Local tattoo artist alleges assault by ‘Black Squad’

When tattoo artist Joseph Bailey won a case at the Family Court earlier this week, his joy was short-lived, as what he alleges happened next has him fearing for his life.{{more}}

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday, Bailey said after winning the case on Tuesday, he was threatened and assaulted by two sisters, one of whom he alleges is a member of the Rapid Reponse Unit (RRU), also known as the ‘Black Squad’.

“The Black Squad sister get up and try push the umbrella in my face. I knock it away and the next sister now take off her shoes; then the Black Squad sister try to beat me with the umbrella and the next try to hit me,” Bailey alleged.

According to the artist, a member of the Special Service Unit (SSU) had to separate them.

He said after the fight, he lodged a complaint with the police and took a medical injury form, as his head began to swell and he had a few scrapes and bruises.

Bailey said he thought that was the end of his ordeal, but little did he know it was only beginning.

He said when he returned to his place of business, eight members of the RRU turned up, saying they had received a complaint about him and had come to pick him up.

“I go in the transport and they wind up the glass and they start cuffing me in the vehicle, so I blocking. They say, boy we carrying you and killing you; we carrying you and kill you down Layou; we carrying you Layou and we killing you,” he related.

Bailey also alleged that one police officer pulled a pair scissors on him and tried to stab him while in the vehicle.

“What they telling me is that anywhere they see me, they gonna kill me and their boss vex and nobody don’t mess with who in their squad.”

He claims he was told that the female member of the RRU with whom he had the encounter at the Family Court had made a report that he had assaulted her.

“I feel yesterday if they didn’t pick me up under those circumstances in front of people and I hadn’t left my phone with them, …I feel they would have done me something…because the next one was looking for an excuse to lash me.”

Bailey told SEARCHLIGHT that he is has sought legal counsel from the law firm of Marks and Marks.

The Public Relations and Complaints Department of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force confirmed that Bailey did lodge a complaint with them about the incident with the female member of the RRU.

Bailey said he is also upset because the RRU showing up at his place of business gives the impression that he is involved in illegal activity.(CM)