Trinidad: Robbery suspect found dead in prison cell hours after arrest

Trinidad and Tobago: The St. Joseph Police Station becomes an unsuspected crime scene after Capildave Mootoo, a suspected robber, was found dead in his holding cell hours after he had been arrested. 

According to police reports, the arrest of Mootoo a resident of LP 54 Temple Street, Bamboo Settlement #2, Valsayn, took place on Monday 28th July around 11 p.m after the authorities had responded to a robbery report that was made to the Command Centre by an unknown resident of Temple Street, Bamboo #2 who reported that some items were stolen.

Upon the review of the CCTV footage, the police proceeded to make an arrest of Capildave Mootoo, for the alleged robbery that had occurred in Bamboo Settlement #2. 

Once the police officers along with Mootoo arrived at the St Joseph Police Station they searched Mootoo and placed him alone in a cell. 

However around 4:50 p.m. as the police were conducting a routine checkup on Tuesday as they arrived by Mootoo’s cell the officers noticed that Mootoo was on his bare back wearing only black and white plaid boxer shorts whilst in a kneeling position in the cell with a makeshift noose fashioned from a jersey around his neck. 

The officers proceeded to call for a  medical check-in and upon the visitation from the District Medical Officer, Mootoo was pronounced dead on the scene. 

An investigator is expected to be appointed soon to the case to determine the causes surrounding his death is ongoing to determine if his whether he died by suicide or by murder. 

Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago took to Facebook to call for proper examination and investigation into his death, while many blame the police as his death occurred while in their custody. 

With one user writing “Although he is a criminal the law is there for a reason, every single police officer on that shift should be held accountable until the enquiry is over treat them as criminal as well not one or two all off them because it was their duty to ensure justice was done by protecting the persons in their care if a police officer killed him in a cell just think about what that officer is capable of doing on the public.”