Police say man died trying to get away from joint Police/BDF patrol across the river

By BBN Staff: A Police report says that a man who died in Benque Viejo del Carmen did so while trying to escape a joint Police/BDF patrol.

The Police report indicates that at 11 am on Sunday, the joint member of the Police/BDF Dragonfly Operation unit was conducting a foot patrol along the Mopan Riverside in an area known for contraband and other illicit activity.

The report said their attention was drawn to four Hispanic men attempting to cross the river. Two were in underwear, one in a white t-shirt and underwear, and the fourth was fully clothed. The men had backpacks and were crossing the river. The report said that once one of the men reached the Benque side of the river, he became aware of the police, warned the others, and ran. The officers set chase and fired two warning shots in the air in an attempt to stop the persons, however, they continued going across.

The report goes on to say that one of the men slipped on a rock and fell into the river where he was then seen struggling to stay afloat. One of the men who had already made it to the other side then returned to rescue the one who had fallen into the river, but upon seeing the police entering the river he fled.  The police report said the officers made several dives in an attempt to save the man but the results were futile, so they asked onlookers for help and three men assisted and recovered the lifeless body sometime after.

The police reports said the body was taken to the San Ignacio Community Hospital where the man was pronounced dead on arrival at 1:40 pm.

The body was then transported to the Belmopan Morgue for a Post Mortem Examination.

The police reports said the dead man had a bruise on the left side of the head. From his Social Security identification card, he was confirmed to be 26-year-old Edwin Brian Isidro, a Belizean of Benque Viejo del Carmen.

The police report clashes with comments from onlookers who took to Facebook yesterday claiming the police had killed the man because they took him to be a Guatemalan and had done nothing to try to save him.

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