Police fired warning shots while arresting an armed man who had recently been released from prison and strongly resisted detention in the Village area of San Nicolas on Tuesday, October 27, according to reports published on October 27.
Officers went to Caya Sint Maarten in San Nicolas to arrest Alfonso ‘Fonso’ Brown, who was wanted by the authorities. According to 24ora, Brown had recently been released from KIA, Aruba’s correctional institute, after serving a sentence in serious cases that included a shooting.
Warning shots as a crowd gathered
Police say Brown was armed with a firearm and strongly resisted arrest. The Aruba Police Force K-9 unit took part in the operation, English 24ora reported.
As the arrest unfolded, a group of people gathered and behaved threateningly, so officers fired warning shots. The situation then calmed, reinforcements arrived, and Brown was handcuffed and taken into custody.
Police also arrested a second man at the scene who was wanted by the justice authorities.
Appeal for information
English 24ora reported that the suspect is believed to be connected to previous shootings on the same street that resulted in casualties. In its press release, carried by AWE24, the Aruba Police Force repeated the warning-shots account and stressed its efforts to remove firearms from the streets, appealing to the public to call the tiplijn on 11141.
24ora added context that Village has recently had many problems with firearm use, including a late-night shooting in which two people were wounded; the report did not establish a link between that shooting and Tuesday’s arrest.
Two detainees taken ill at San Nicolas station
Later on Tuesday, an ambulance was called to the San Nicolas police station after a detainee became ill in his cell, AWE24 reported on October 27.
On arrival, ambulance personnel found two ill detainees: one was the man detained in Village, who had become ill and had a headache after resisting his detention, and another detainee who had also become ill. The ambulance crew attended to both men and took one of them to hospital.
AWE24 also published video of the detention in Village. In the police account carried by AWE24, the warning shots were fired because of the threatening behaviour of the group that had gathered, after which the situation calmed and the arrest was completed once reinforcements reached the scene.
Sources: 24ora (English) | 24ora | AWE24 | AWE24
