One-year-old Adan Alexander was on his way to daycare, resting comfortably in his father’s arms, when the car, whose backseat they were in, was stopped by police in Belmont on Tuesday of this week.
Adan was still in those arms when the officers grabbed his father, Akil Coward, and pulled him out of the vehicle because they felt he was taking too long to follow their command to exit the vehicle.
Adan also remained in his father’s arms when the officers allegedly pushed Coward against a nearby wall to search him.
Adan’s uncle, who was the driver of the car, was upset that the one-year-old was caught in the middle of this police action and grabbed the one-year-old to offer him solace.
However, he also told the police exactly how he felt about the way they had treated the child’s father and handled the resulting situation.
And he continued to do so even as his stepbrother was being allegedly roughed up by officers.
The police did not like that. And the uncle then allegedly became their next target.
Again, Adan, held in a loved one’s arms, was caught in the middle of a confrontation with police.
This interaction, however, was caught on camera and shared on social media.
In that video, a male police officer was seen hitting a man holding a baby.
Eventually, another officer took the baby from the man’s hands before he was handed over to a uniformed female officer.
The baby in the video was Adan. While he was being passed from hand to hand, his uncle was accosted by officers.
Adan’s uncle was then led to a marked police vehicle where his head was eventually slammed into the back windscreen before he was shoved inside.
Akil was taken to hospital for injuries which allegedly included a black eye and swollen face.
Eventually, all three men who were in the car, including the brothers’ mechanic, were charged for obscene language and resisting arrest.
Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, Adan’s mother, Amanda, said the baby was traumatised by the incident and was now experiencing physical sickness as a result.
“My son is traumatised. I’ve seen a change in his behaviour. He’s been crying at nights, he is also vomiting and has diarrhoea and slight fever since the incident happened,” Amanda claimed.
Amanda expressed her disgust at the entire ordeal.
“I’m really not pleased and I am very much disappointed with the whole situation. I myself am very shocked with the way the police behaved,” she said.
Amanda has since taken Adan to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope to be checked up.
Meanwhile, head of the TTPS Communications Unit, retired ACP Joanne Archie, yesterday confirmed that three of the officers from the Port-of-Spain Task Force who were involved in that incident have been removed from front line duties.
The officers have been relegated to desk duty while an investigation is being done by the TTPS Professional Standards Bureau and the Police Complaints Authority.
Amanda said she was glad that action was taken immediately.
The family is currently pursuing their legal options with respect to the incident.