Crime
“Life in Prison for setting fire” as Wheeland Residents say fire bomb tossed into residence Monday night
Wilkie Arthur and Deandrea Hamilton
Turks and Caicos, September 13, 2024 – TCI Police are not saying how the fire was set, but they do confirm a fire was intentionally set and witnesses speaking to Eagle Legal News Media report that it was thrown into a Wheeland house where it landed in the living room and exploded.
“…it is alleged criminals sent fire bomb (s) through a home, but thankfully no one was in the living room area where it landed and an explosion was heard loudly, no one was hurt or injured,” reported Wilkie Arthur of Eagle Legal on the night of the horrifying incident.
The Police report explains: Shortly after 8 p.m. yesterday (September 9), officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force
responded to a fire report at a dwelling in Wheeland, Blue Hills, Providenciales. Upon arrival at the scene, police officers and firefighters saw a structure in flames.
All efforts to contain the fire were successful. Fortunately, there were no injuries. Based on initial reports, the fire appears to have been deliberately set.
The RTCIPF wishes to remind the public that under the Malicious Injuries to Property Ordinance Chapter 3.11, Section 4, “Setting fire to a dwelling-house with any person being therein Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously set fire to any dwelling house, any person being therein, commits an offence, and being convicted thereof shall be liable to imprisonment for life.”
Fire Trucks and Police were summoned to the scene on Monday night. Images of the response are shared by Eagle Legal.
Meanwhile, the RT&CIPF is asking anyone with information that may help in this investigation to contact the closest police station, 911, the Serious Crime Unit at 231-1842, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800- 8477 to provide any information anonymously.
Garfield Ekon
Staff Writer
USA, September 21, 2024 – Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with serious sex offenses from a 14-page indictment, accusing him of racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Mr. Combs, 54, was arrested on Monday evening, with allegations of running a criminal enterprise from at least 2008 that relied on drugs and violence to force women to “fulfill his sexual desires”, according to prosecutors. A New York federal judge remanded the musician in custody on Tuesday after prosecutors argued he was a “serious flight risk”.
If convicted on all three counts, the rapper and record producer faces a sentence of 15 years up to life in prison. Asked by US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky how he wished to plead, Mr. Combs stood up and said: “not guilty”.
According to court documents, Mr. Combs “wielded the power” of his status to “lure female victims, to engage in extended sex acts” called “Freak Offs”. During Freak Offs, Combs distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims “obedient and compliant,” the indictment said.
In a news briefing, US prosecutor Damian Williams said officials found firearms, ammunition and more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant during raids on Mr. Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles, about six months ago. Mr. Williams said federal agents also found three semi-automatic rifles with defaced serial numbers, and a drum magazine.
He told reporters that further charges were possible, without offering details.
Mr. Agnifilo, the musician’s lawyer, maintained, “there’s no coercion and no crime.”
“He’s not afraid of the charges,” he said, adding that he believed Mr. Combs was the target of “an unjust prosecution”.
In court documents, federal prosecutors said that Mr. Combs had “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.
Prosecutors accuse Mr. Combs of “creating a criminal enterprise” whose members – under his direction – engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson and bribery.
“On numerous occasions”, the documents said, Mr. Combs assaulted women by “striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them”.
The indictment did not specify how many women were alleged victims.
It also does not accuse Mr. Combs himself of engaging directly in unwanted sexual acts with women.
Last November, his ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him that included graphic descriptions of violent abuse.
Sean “Diddy” Combs denied the accusations, but settled the case a day after it was filed.
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