A 29-year-old Princess Street man, who is a suspect in an armed robbery case, has reportedly confessed to starting the devastating fire that destroyed the Brickdam Police Station Complex in Georgetown on Saturday.
In a statement on Sunday, the Guyana Police Force said investigators have managed to secure a confession (on video) from a prisoner – Clarence Greene.
Greene, who was arrested early on Saturday morning (October 2nd, 2021) and placed in the Brickdam lockups for an alleged Robbery Under Arms, told investigators, during his confession, that he started the fire out of frustration over his detention. According to the police, he had been held for a “couple of hours.”
The police said following the fire on Saturday, the prisoners who were in the Brickdam lockups were questioned and two of them claimed that upon being removed from the lockups, there were escorted to the Sparendaam Police Station, and placed in a cell with Greene.
“The duo said Green told them that he took a piece of sponge, wrapped it up on a piece of wire which he lit, and pushed it through a ventilation hole in the cell over to a part that had some documents and it catch afire,” the police reported.
Following this revelation, Greene was then video interviewed/questioned by detectives during which he ‘confessed’ and told investigators that he tore off a piece of sponge from a mattress in the cell that he was in, hooked it on a piece of wire, and lit same with a cigarette lighter which he then pushed through a ventilation hole in the cell at Brickdam.
In an initial statement issued by the police, Greene reportedly implicated one of the two prisoners who were placed in the same cell as him, however, that statement was retracted.
The police investigation is ongoing.
