“Chattanooga Businesswoman Detained In Belize After Wreck” |
| Chattanooga Businesswoman Detained In Belize After Wreck Posted: 09 Jan 2011 08:05 AM PST Chattanooga Businesswoman Detained In Belize After Wreck posted January 9, 2011 The son of Chattanooga businesswoman Suzan Benzle Boutz said she is being detained in the Central American country of Belize after a traffic accident that he says was not her fault. Elliott Benzle of Hilliard, Ohio, said, "My family is extremely concerned about her welfare and safety." Ms. Boutz, 60, is a master artist of jewelry making, textile design, and the ceramic arts. She was involved in a traffic accident on Dec. 20 and has been detained ever since. Her son said, "Witnesses to the accident have had their lives threatened. At this point it appears that no one in the Belizean government can be trusted and our U.S. Embassy is ineffective. Without some outside pressure we feel that we are at the mercy of a corrupt government." He said his mother was on a family vacation in Belize traveling back from a day trip to visit a Mayan ruin site in western Belize with him and his girlfriend. The son said, "She stopped at an intersection to yield to oncoming traffic before making a left hand turn and was struck by a motorcycle that crashed into the front of her rental car. His head hit the windshield of her rental car. The motorcycle driver was transported by locals to a local emergency facility. "Several witnesses stepped up to tell her not to worry, that she was clearly stopped and that the motorcycle driver swerved across the center line and hit her car. Two hours later, a police officer arrived on the scene. At approximately 11 p.m. she was directed to the Independence, Belize, police station by another police officer who identified himself as the investigating officer. There she was detained for 18 hours without any information and without an opportunity to engage an attorney. She was not read her rights. The police repeatedly told her that she did not need an attorney and would be free to go shortly. As she was giving her statement, the police officers repeatedly left out key portions and appeared to be unable to write in the English language. "My mother was forced to sleep on a bare concrete floor, there was no working toilet, and she was verbally harassed by the police officers on duty throughout the night. The guards repeatedly tried to take her phone and put her in the cell block. "At 4:45 p.m. on Dec. 21 she was finally released, only after numerous calls to the embassy, other police officials, attorneys and multiple residents. She was charged with two counts: 'Negligent Grievous Harm' and 'Drove without due care and attention.' As directed, she appeared at a magistrate�s hearing held on Dec. 23 at Dangriga Town Magistrate Court where she plead 'not guilty' to both charges and asked for a timely trial date so that she could return to the USA with her 86-year-old mother as planned. Despite the magistrate�s attempt with the prosecutor to move the date up, the hearing was scheduled for more than one month later, and she was forced to post a $3,000 surety bond and to turn over her passport. "Shocked and shaken, my mom spent the next few days trying to locate a Belizean lawyer, arrange for funds to be wired to her in Belize so that she could pay her living expenses, pay a lawyer, secure a Belize telephone so that she could communicate with worried family in the U.S. and arrange for ongoing needed medication to be sent to her. "In the meantime, several witnesses took the initiative to find her, telling her that they were disturbed that the police had not contacted them. The witnesses confirmed again that her car was stopped at the intersection, that the motorcycle swerved into her car, that his headlights were not on and he was not wearing a helmet. They also told her that the driver of the motorcycle had been drinking with a police officer just prior to the accident. The same witness gave their statements and names to the police officers and expected to be notified, but the investigating officers did not contact them. These witnesses then went to the Placencia Tourism Police to give their statements as instructed to do by our U.S. embassy. "These statements have now somehow been 'lost' and not reached the proper authorities. It appears that the tourism police informed other police about the witnesses� identify because this witness received a telephone call last night (Friday) threatening his life. After the call three men showed up in a truck at his residence and chased him down. He is currently so afraid that he is fleeing the area. "The U.S. Embassy has said they won�t interfere in Belizean laws. My mother�s senator called the embassy and was told they couldn�t give him information about the case because they 'didn�t get' part of the privacy sharing agreement. They did, however, receive the section with relatives phone numbers but neglected to contact them so the signature section could be relaxed. "Clearly the police force in Belize is guilty of misconduct, incompetence and harassment of a tourist, and possibly of attempted murder. Further corroboration on the corruption of the Independence police force was brought to our attention a few days ago in an article where a police officer in Independence terrorized a local family with young children on New Year's Eve." Suzan Boutz has gained national recognition for her award-winning jewelry and ceramic designs. Her work is featured in numerous museum and gallery collections including The White House Collection of American Crafts, and The Smithsonian Renwick Gallery of American Art, Washington, D.C. She currently lives and works in Chattanooga with her husband and has three children. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Content Keyword RSS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment