JP pleads not guilty in accident case involving Hanover custos
Published:Thursday | December 5, 2024 | 12:08 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Senior Hanover Justice of the Peace Alvin Jackson, who was arrested and charged for failure to report an accident within 24 hours and careless driving, which caused an accident, pleaded not guilty when he appeared in the Hanover Parish Court yesterday.
Jackson’s charges stem from an accident on Independence Day when a car he was driving collided with an SUV driven by Hanover Custos Dr David Stair.
The two men reportedly had an argument, and Stair summoned the police, but Jackson left before the arrival of law enforcement.
According to reports, on August 6, about 11:00 p.m., Stair was driving along the pothole-riddled main street in Lucea, in the vicinity of the G V Service station, when he stopped to allow oncoming vehicles to go by. Jackson, who was travelling in the opposite direction, reportedly crashed into Stair’s vehicle, causing severe damage and rendering it inoperable.
With the men unable to come to an amicable settlement, Stair decided that it would be best to summon the police to the scene. However, instead of waiting for their arrival, Jackson reportedly got into his vehicle and drove away.
With the custos’s vehicle inoperable, the police reportedly did their on-the-spot investigation and then towed the vehicle to the Hanover police headquarters, where Stair reported the accident officially.
Police visited his house twice
After Jackson failed to report the accident within the allowed 24 hours, the police visited his house twice in search of him. He subsequently contacted the police, and an arrangement was made for him to report to the police.
“While Custos Stair’s Suzuki Grand Vitara was taken to the Lucea police headquarters, it was not being impounded. Instead, it is being held there for safekeeping, and he can retrieve it whenever he wishes to do so,” Superintendent Andrew Nish, the police commander for Hanover, told The Gleaner after Stair’s vehicle was moved from the accident scene.
After Jackson reported to the police, he was charged and summoned to attend court yesterday.
Jackson is slated to return to court on December 16 for the trial to begin. Stair, who was left without a vehicle for several weeks after the accident, was present in court yesterday.