Man on most wanted list turns self in
A mere 24 hours after the police released a refreshed list of the island’s 11 most wanted men, one of the fugitives, Christopher ‘Chicken Back’ Barrett, yesterday heeded the police’s call to take the peaceful option of surrender.
Barrett, who hails from Gregory Park in St Catherine, was wanted for last month’s murder of Kevin Bryan at Cottage Lane in the community.
Yesterday, he was taken to the police by members of his family and handed himself over to Senior Superintendent Devon Watkiss of Area Four and officers from the Major Investigation Team (MIT) who took him into custody.
He is the sixth fugitive whose name has so far been deleted from the ‘most wanted’ list, which was first issued in September last year.
At a press conference on Monday, MIT head Assistant Commissioner Les Green appealed to the fugitives to take the peaceful option and surrender with their lawyers.
Yesterday, head of Operation Kingfish, ssistant Commissioner Glenmore Hinds, repeated the call.
“We are appealing to them to turn themselves in so they can at least be interviewed with their lawyers,” Hinds said.
Barrett’s surrender came only three days after the capture of another fugitive, Robert ‘Dinero’ Brown, and 17 days after the capture of alleged boss of the Stone Crusher gang, Eldon Calvert. Three others – Dryden brothers Deon and Wayne and Gerald Taylor – were killed.
Brown, who is wanted for five murders and five shootings, was held with 26 rounds of ammunition in the rural St Andrew district of Lawrence Tavern last Saturday evening while Calvert was taken from a posh residence at Wood Grove in Trelawny on January 27.
The police also report that they have seized 73 guns since the start of this year. They say without the public’s help, their work would be in vain and encouraged others to exercise vigilance in their communities.
“The informer label is one of those myths and stories passed on by criminals. We need to drop those myths. We can and we do protect these individuals,” Green said. “The gunmen live in these communities and extort these communities. They do not protect these communities.”
