Police say motorbike thieves crashed and died; one family says bike was not stolen

Police headquarters on Friday reported that two men who reportedly stole a motorcycle died after they crashed the same motorcycle into a truck along the Diamond Access Road, East Bank Demerara.

Dead are Ashton McCurdy and Mark Green, a labourer of Grove Housing Scheme. The family of Green is, however, disputing the Police’s account of what happened, saying the bike was taken with permission to run an errand when the crash happened close to midnight Thursday.

The Guyana Police Force on Friday said the crash occurred at about 23:20 hrs and involved motorcycle CL9127, owned by Trevor Hunte, a security guard of Grove Housing Scheme. The men crashed into motor lorry GAF 2356.

At the time of the accident, Hitram Basmattie, a 55-year-old truck driver from Timehri was driving the lorry.

It was alleged by the Police that McCurdy and Green stole the motorcycle that was parked at a shop at Diamond. The Police reported Hunte as saying the two men took the motorcycle from him and rode away.

While fleeing, the Police said the men failed to stop at an intersection on the Diamond access road and they crashed into the lorry.

Both men on the motorcycle fell onto the road and received injuries.

An ambulance was summoned and the injured men were taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, East Bank Demerara where a doctor on duty pronounced them dead.

The bodies were taken to the Memorial Garden Funeral Home, awaiting post-mortem examination.

Green’s family, through their attorney Mr. Ronald J. Daniels disputed the Police’s version of the events. They said Green, McCurdy and Hunte were all friends and Hunte loaned the motorcycle to McCurdy “to use to go purchase something.”

Director of Communications for the Guyana Police Force, Mark Ramotar, maintained the Police’s report.

“Police report accurate….owner of the bike reported it stolen at Grove Police Station,” Mr Ramotar said in response to questions regarding attorney Daniel’s claims from the Green family.

Editor’s Note: The original headline on this story read “Alleged motorcycle thieves die after crashing into truck”. It reflected the Police’s account of what happened as provided by Police headquarters. The story has since been edited to include the comments from Mr Mark Green’s family as told to their attorney Ronald J. Daniels.