~ For refusal to pay fare ~
PHILIPSBURG--A gypsy driver and two of his friends beat cruise ship crew member M.W.L. around 3:00pm Friday, February 19, because he refused to pay the US $20 fee to be transported to the cruise ship from Carolina Bar adult entertainment centre on Soualiga Boulevard.
As a result of the injuries the crew member suffered a “very serious” ankle fracture had to be treated at St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC). Police spokesperson Chief Inspector Ricardo Henson said the cruise ship on which the victim served had spent the night docked at Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities.
The man was at Carolina Bar and wanted to go back to the ship. He approached the gypsy driver, who charged $20 for the trip. When the victim refused to pay that amount “he was suddenly attacked by the driver and two of his friends and beaten severely,” Henson said.
Henson said the Detective Department was investigating this “very serious case if ill-treatment.”
