CASE CLOSED: Police commissioner says not enough evidence that Coleby-Davis struck officer

CASE CLOSED: Police commissioner says not enough evidence that Coleby-Davis struck officer
Minister of Transport and Housing, Jobeth Coleby-Davis (BIS Photos/Lisa Davis)

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The police probe into claims Transport and Housing Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis struck an officer with her vehicle during Carnival festivities last May has been closed due to insufficient evidence.

Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander told the media the matter is now “closed” at a press conference on Friday.

“Our legal team has viewed the file with respect to the Honourable Jobeth Coleby-Davis and the result is there is insufficient evidence at this time to proceed with that matter so that matter is closed,” Fernander said.

Fernander would not go into further detail regarding the investigation but stressed that the police need solid evidence to file charges and take a matter to court.

“We deal with facts and evidence,” he said.

“That’s what you need to go to court. I don’t wish to get into any tangle. We don’t investigate in the media. We need facts and evidence to put matters before the courts,” said Fernander, who noted that the alleged incident had generated significant chatter on social media. 

The issue was raised in Parliament last summer after the Opposition raised questions about the matter.

At the time, Prime Minister Philip Davis said that police had never launched an investigation into allegations that Colebey-Davis struck an officer with her car as he sought to distinguish an official investigation from what he said was police merely performing an internal inquiry to determine who was telling the truth.

The alleged confrontation between a police officer and Coleby-Davis, the Minister of Transport and Housing, took place during carnival festivities in May.

An officer alleged that Colebey-Davis injured his leg with her car because he refused to let her pass through an area.

Eyewitness News reported on an affidavit purportedly filed with police from an eyewitness.

At the time, Police Staff Association chairman Ricardo Walkes said the officer involved in the encounter had retained a lawyer.

On Friday, Fernander said: “The officer, I have spoken to him. He will be to work.”

Meanwhile, Fernander indicated that the investigation involving former Youth, Sports, and Culture Minister Lanisha Rolle is still “very much active.”

“That matter is very much active. Just stand by,” Fernander said.

The former Seabreeze MP resigned from her Cabinet post in February 2021 but gave little explanation for the decision. It followed a lockdown of the ministry ordered by former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis amid an ongoing audit of the National Sports Authority.

Rolle has previously said the Cabinet statement announcing her resignation had cast aspersions of wrongdoing that caused her hurt and harm. However, she maintained that her record as a minister upheld the standards of the Cabinet and good governance.