PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance devoted almost three hours on Thursday afternoon to the fallout of a traffic accident that occurred on Sunday March 4 around 2 a.m. near the Daily Extra supermarket on Welfare Road in Cole Bay. When everything was said and done, the two defendants, Raymond Peterson (56) and his 27-year old son Raeyhon walked away with a suspended sentence of 60 hours of community service and 2 years of probation.
The father is a manager at St. Maarten Laboratory Services (SLS) and the son is a legal advisor at the Ministry of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure.
On March 4, the son was driving his father’s Hummer when a red car crashed head-on into his vehicle. The son was in shock and accosted the driver of the other car, first asking him what he though he was doing, then shoving him twice to the ground. He called his father, who arrived shortly afterwards on the scene.
When a police officer arrived, Raeyhon Peterson was still in shock – witnesses said that he was behaving very aggressively – and the officer had so much trouble calming the man down that he saw no other solution than firing a warning shot. He also put his gun to Peterson jr.’s head in an attempt to bring the situation under control.
The prosecution charged Peterson jr. with committing public violence, ill-treatment, threatening and insulting a police officer and refusing to abide by a police order. His father was facing charges for making threats, insults and refusing to abide by a police order.
The public prosecutor considered all charges proven and demanded 60 hours of community service against both defendants.
“It was a serious accident. Peterson Jr. got out of his car to accost the driver of the other car, behaving aggressively. He also hit the driver. The father who arrived later also behaved aggressively, even more so than his son. It took five police officers to calm down the situation – and it took them twenty minutes.”
Attorney Brenda Brooks asked the court to acquit her clients of all charges for lack of legal and convincing evidence. The attorney noted that the police force will take disciplinary measures against the officer who fired the warning shot during the event.
Brooks also asked the court to declare the prosecution inadmissible on procedural grounds, but the court denied this request.
The judge acquitted Peterson Jr. of committing public violence and of threatening a police officer, but she considered proven the charges of ill-treatment, insulting a police officer and refusing to abide by a police order. The judge found the father guilty of the last three of these charges.
