[ocr scan of local paper] by. Rowltuul A. ,..”,. SAN PEDRO, Mon. Feb. 16,2004 On Thursday night, sometime after 9:30 p.m., Leroy “Dan”Pilgrim, 23, a fisherman on San Pedro, . kissed his infant daughter good night and told his wife that he would be back shortly to eat the food that she had cooked for him. He never returned. A few minutes later he was’ dead from a single bullet that was fired into his head, allegedly by a police officer who had stopped him to conduct an apparently routine search after Pilgrim had emerged from behind some mangrove bushes, where he Leroy ~d ~Iena were married on Nov. 10, 200 I. She had and his brother had just been WIth him since 1999. finished refueling his moored boat. and began to advance upon the In their press release the following’ officer. day, Friday, February 13, police, without “One of the officers pulled his naming the two officers involved, service revolver, whereas. one of the reported that “On Thursday February individuals grabbed the officer in an 12, San Pedro Police visited an area attempt to relieve him of his weapon. in the San Juan area of San Pedro, A struggle ensued, whereas both where they conducted a search. As a individuals fell into the water and result, police discovered an illegal firearm and thereafter attempted to apprehend two brothers, who were present. The individuals then resisted
whereas the weapon discharged. with the bullet hitting the suspect near the left ear. “The brothers were identified as Leroy.Pilgrim, 24. who later succumbed to the injury received, and San jay Pilgrim. Leroy Pilgrim was then transported to the Lion s Clinic in San Pedro, where~re a group of individuals believed to be associates of Pilgrim began to throw objects at the clinic, breaking a number of glass windows in the process…. ” But the police’s’s version of this tragic event differs sharply /Tom those of several eyewitnesses, with whom Amandala spoke. Benjamin Rodriguez, 16, who lives at #10 La Isla Bonita Street, told Amandala, “I live about 90 feet fro”} where the police took Leroy Pilgrim. I saw this man (Pilgrim) coming out from in the back where he kept his boat. By the time he reached in front of my yard, I saw the police approach him to rub him down. They did not find anything on him. “Police Constable ‘C’ then walked him to where he had just come from. PC “C” was holding him from behind the collar of his shirt. From where I was standing, I could only see the policeman s flashlight, as they were searching. They had just come to do their routine check. They always (Please turn to page 2)
Present’ truth,h minis'” banned Irom HIIHieville Prison
[the way I heard it: Leroy was “interrogated’ by forcing his head underwater – local folks stormed the dispensary where his body remained and pelted the police with stones – the army from the mainland was called-in]
