Grenada cops charged in beating death of TO man

Grenada cops charged in beating death of TO man

Oscar Bartholomew is seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy: Bartholomew family)

ST. GEORGES — Two police officers in Grenada have been charged with manslaughter in the beating death of a Canadian man.
Police say in a statement that officers Kenton Hazzard and Wendell Sylvester were detained on Thursday and questioned about the death of 39-year-old Oscar Bartholomew of Toronto.
Police also said that three other officers have been detained in the case but not charged.
It is unclear if the officers charged have an attorney.
Bartholomew was visiting the eastern Caribbean island.
Shem Pierre, Bartholomew's cousin, said in a telephone interview that he hopes all those involved, even as bystanders, will be charged.
But he praised police for pressing charges.
"It does bring a bit of satisfaction," he said.
The arrests came shortly after police interviewed a witness, said Derick Sylvester, an attorney for the victim's family.
Sylvester said an independent autopsy found that Bartholomew died of trauma to the head as well as multiple injuries to the body. A state autopsy report came to similar but less detailed conclusions.
Relatives have accused officers of beating Bartholomew into a coma on Monday after he mistook a plainclothes female police officer for a friend and lifted her for a hug in front of a police station.
Bartholomew had stopped at the station in the southwestern part of the island because his wife needed to use the restroom, relatives said.