On Tuesday July 12th at approximately 11.35 p.m. a telephone call came into the police Central Dispatch informing them that the escaped prisoner Omar Nelson a.k.a "Chucky" was spotted driving in a small black vehicle in the Middle Region area.
All patrols on the street at the time were given the information received and started to search for this vehicle.
A patrol while in the Sucker garden area spotted a small black with license plate P-5584 in which four young men was driving. To establish the identity of the persons in this car the patrol ordered the driver of the vehicle several times to bring the vehicle to a stop, however he did not follow these orders and instead increased speed in the direction of Upper Princes Quarter. The police started to chase this suspect vehicle.
The Central Dispatch was informed of the ongoing situation and backup by other patrols was requested in order to have this vehicle stopped.
During the chase the patrol noticed that the driver was driving extremely reckless causing oncoming traffic to pull to the right and of the road to avoid a collision. Seeing how dangerous the situation had gotten the patrol decide to slow down and stop the chase to avoid innocent persons being injured. They informed the Central Dispatch what was going on and informed the patrol in Dutch Quarter to intercept the suspect vehicle. However going down hill at very high speed at the crossing Middle Region road-Sucker garden road- Hulda B. Richardson road the driver of the suspect vehicle lost control and collided head-on with oncoming traffic which was Taxi-83. As a result of the tremendous impact both vehicles were severely damaged and all four occupants of the suspect vehicle had suffered severe injuries to their faces and limbs. The occupants of the taxi did not suffer injuries. The ambulance department, police traffic department, Forensic Department and Fire department were sent to assist at the scene. The traffic as then diverted through Oyster pond in order to get to Dutch Quarter and French Quarter area. The victims were all treated on the scene by paramedics and then transported to the Sint Maarten Medical Center for further treatment. During the investigation it was established that the suspect vehicle had been stolen earlier that evening in the Philipsburg area. All four victims in this vehicle were between the ages of 16 and 19 years old and are from the Sucker garden/ The Keys area. There are also arrest warrants out for at least two of the victims involved in this accident.
The driver of the suspect vehicle will be flown abroad to be operated on in the attempt to save his left eye. The traffic department and Forensic Department are still carrying out their investigation.