RTA Driver Alleges Police Fed Him False Information, Pressured Him to Accept Fault
A man injured in a car crash on May 1st is alleging that an officer gave him false information about the crash and pressured him to accept fault.
Cory Middleton said the accident occurred on North Ring Road in Belmopan on the night of Labour Day, while he was overtaking in a marked passing zone. His vehicle collided with a red pickup truck driven by Dean Flowers, president of the Public Service Union, causing him to lose control and end up in a ditch. He was thereafter taken to a hospital with a head injury and other bodily injuries.
Unable to make a report that night, Middleton went to the station the following evening. He says an officer told him he had struck the other vehicle first and was at fault.
“My first statement was made under false pretence of the information that was given to me…I believed him because he was an officer. He is there to help and protect civilians, so I wouldn’t expect the first thing he did to me was lie,” Middleton told News 5.
He claims the officer later called him twice, urging him to go to the insurance company and accept fault. Suspicious, Middleton contacted the officer’s superintendent, who he says conducted a follow‑up investigation and told him the evidence showed Flowers was at fault. “I also have this on recording, the whole interaction between me and the superintendent,” he told News 5.
When he returned to the station to amend his statement, Middleton says he was met with resistance but eventually allowed to redo it. The matter proceeded to court on May 29th, where both drivers pleaded not guilty.
In a written response to News 5, Flowers rejected Middleton’s account, saying, “The young man ran into me and is not taking responsibility. He did file a report accepting responsibility, then a few days after returned to the station to withdraw his statement, so the matter will proceed to court for the court to decide who was at fault. I’m just grateful no one was severely injured or died because of his reckless speeding and overtaking at an intersection.”
The case has been adjourned until July 31st, with the injured driver insisting he wants fairness and accountability. “My purpose in speaking today is not to interfere with the court process or to determine the guilt through the media… I have concerns regarding how aspects of this matter were handled, and every citizen deserves a fair, impartial, and transparent process,” he said.
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