A relatively quiet Heroes Day holiday, in terms of serious crime, thanks to the cooperation and support of members of the general public. The policing plan announced and implemented before the start of the holiday weekend has had a positive impact.

Detective Superintendent Nicholas Pedro, Gold Commander for the holiday policing initiative commented: “The combined police and regiment patrols reported no major incidents over the three-day holiday.

There was one incident which occurred in the car park at the Arboretum around 4:15 a.m. Saturday, 18th June 2022, where one man sustained head and facial injuries in an attack involving several other males. The victim, an eighteen-year-old male, was attended to at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and thankfully, has since been discharged from hospital.

We continue to seek the public’s assistance in connection with the ongoing investigation into this matter. Anyone with information, is asked to call 211 or the main police number 295-0011.

Of note on the holiday itself, around 3:40 a.m. Monday, 20th June 2022, police and other first responders attended a single vehicle car crash on Harrington Sound Road, Smith’s parish, just east of Harrington Sound Primary School. The victim in that matter, a twenty-year-old male driver, was initially unresponsive and had to be pulled from the vehicle which had flipped onto its right side. At last check, he remained in hospital undergoing tests for head injuries which are not thought to be life threatening.

There was also a report of a boat becoming stuck on a reef and taking on water around 6:30 p.m. Monday 20th June. Members of the public assisted with pumping out the water and the boat was eventually beached and later taken away via a crane. No injuries were reported.

Disappointingly, the message about not driving whilst impaired (DWI), did not register with everyone and there were three arrests for DWI offences over the holiday weekend.

Speeding remained an issue. Our Roads Policing officers issued a number of tickets for speeding offences, with speeds in excess of 80 kilometres per hour being recorded.”

There were 48 arrests made over the course of the holiday weekend:

•             34 for outstanding warrants.

•             3 for impaired driving.

•             3 for breach of the peace.

•             8 for investigation of other criminal offences.

In addition, Operation Vega, our ongoing traffic enforcement initiative, resulted in 121 traffic tickets being issued for:

•             Speeding: 57

•             Failing to stop: 2

•             Phone offence: 2

•             No driver’s licence: 14

•             Unlicensed vehicle: 13

•             No insurance: 15

•             Disobeying a traffic sign: 12

•             Driving while disqualified: 2

•             Helmet offence: 1

•             Manner of driving: 3

These infractions notwithstanding, the Bermuda Police Service would like to take this opportunity to thank our partner agencies including the Royal Bermuda Regiment, CADA, and the Bermuda Road Safety Council as well as the organisers of the various social events around the island for their assistance and cooperation over the long holiday weekend.

Detective Superintendent Pedro added: “We would especially like to thank you, the members of the public, for doing your part in ensuring that the Heroes Day holiday weekend was celebrated safely and from all appearances, enjoyed by all.”