A sergeant of police who was part of the team behind the takedown of five alleged members of the St Catherine-based Klansman Gang in June 2020, insisted Tuesday that not one bullet was fired by any of the cops who took part in that operation.

The sergeant was the latest witness to take the stand in the ongoing trial of 25 alleged members of what is referred to as the Tesha Miller faction of the Klansman gang. Making an appearance in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston, he said the five accused were taken into custody following a highway chase just moments after they allegedly murdered two men in John’s Hall, Clarendon.

According to prosecutors, the accused — Bjourn Thomas, Sharn Gilzene, Conroy Cadogan, Charles McLeary and Kemar Francis — are behind the Friday, June 26, 2020 double murder of Jermaine Jones and Allen Cameron which took place about 4:40 pm.

The accused men who were travelling in two separate motorcars allegedly ambushed and opened fire on Jones and Cameron who were travelling in a Toyota Hiace bus, killing them.

According to the cop, he and colleagues were in May Pen, Clarendon, when a transmission alerted them about the incident and the description of the supposed getaway vehicle. He told the court that his unit began chasing the silver Toyota Wish after spotting it in the town. He said, while following that vehicle in the direction of the Mineral Heights toll plaza, it stopped. At which point, the accused Francis exited and threw what turned out to be a cellular phone in a grassy area.

According to the cop, in pulling over to observe further, a White Honda Stream then appeared and pulled alongside the silver vehicle. He told the court that men from the silver car were seen talking to the occupants of the white car who did not disembark, and pointing in the direction of the vehicle in which he and three constables were located.

The police witness, who on Monday during his evidence in chief had identified Thomas and Francis positively, said those two cars then continued on the roadway after that interaction but came to a stop at the Mineral Heights Toll booth. He said he and his team followed and continued their surveillance.

During cross examination, the cop told the court that it was in “that line of traffic” at the toll booth that he and his team disembarked and approached the silver car with Thomas and Francis, successfully nabbing them. He said the two were made to lie on the ground. The lawman said another police team which had shown up as reinforcement pursued and, in Freetown Clarendon, corralled the other three accused who were the occupants of the Honda Stream.

During cross-examination, the sergeant said even though he was armed with an M16 rifle and a Glock pistol on the day in question, he fired neither weapon. He said no member of his team or the reinforcement team which arrived after fired weapons that day.

The cop also told the court that three phones were recovered from the silver motorcar. He said he retrieved the fourth from the area on the highway where it had been tossed by Francis some 45 minutes after taking them into custody at the toll booth.

The lawman said when he intercepted the motor vehicle in which Francis was travelling he questioned him about the phone he had seen him throw away but he responded by saying, “Officer mi nuh know nutten bout nuh phone, if yuh want yuh can tek mi back fi see.”

The 25 accused — the second faction of the gang to now be tried by the courts — are to answer to 16 offences allegedly committed over the span of five years between August 2017 and November 2022, according to the case being built by the Crown.

In the matter which began in February this year, two former members of the alleged faction, who are the prosecution’s main witnesses, were the ones to help cops crack the majority of the 16 cases which had remained “unsolved” for seven to eight years after.