Rene Anderson, Star Writer
WESTERN BUREAU

Andre Martinez of Orange district in St James found himself in hot water when he was arrested and charged for the attempted murder and robbery of a taxi operator.

Martinez was remanded when the matter was mentioned before Resident Magistrate Wilson Smith in the Montego Bay RM Court on Tuesday.

He is scheduled to return to court on June 30 when his attorney Morrel Beckford is expected to make a bail application.

Beckford refrained from making an application, stating that he needed time to peruse the file.

Allegations are that the accused and another man, who he introduced as a friend, chartered the complainant's taxi on June 6 at a gas station in Negril.

unknown man

It is said that the driver was directed to a secluded location in Orange, St James, an area that he was not familiar with.

On reaching the area, Martinez and the unknown man stopped the vehicle, saying they wanted to urinate in nearby bushes. The accused and the man made their way to each side of the vehicle and allegedly proceeded to stab at the driver who fought back, but not without receiving several stabs to the neck, face and other parts of his body.

The complainant managed to escape in bushes after being chased and stoned by the accused and his accomplice. The driver was subsequently assisted to the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

Further allegations are that the police visited the complainant in the hospital and were given a description of his assailants and his 1997 Toyota Corolla motor car.

On June 7, police on patrol in Dumfries, St James, spotted an individual allegedly fitting Martinez's description driving the complainant's car and he was accosted. However, he fled into a cane field.

The accused was later arrested on June 8 when the police visited his mother's home in Orange. He told that police that it was his alleged accomplice who attacked the complainant and that he had helped the complainant to escape.

The complainant pointed out Martinez, as one of the men who attacked him, during an identification parade on June 16.