A tribute to police officer Wesley Nicholas Gaitor at Wulff Road Police Station.
By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
TWO best friends, including an off-duty police officer, are dead and a woman is fighting for her life in hospital after the car they were in crashed into a utility pole early on Friday morning.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean said police are still unsure of the circumstances surrounding the accident, which happened shortly after 4am off Malcolm Road, but they suspect speed was a factor.
Police have identified the victims as 23-year-old officer Wesley Nicholas Gaitor, the father of a six-month-old child, and Travis Delano Sweeting, 22, who was the driver of the car. ACP Dean confirmed that the officer - who was attached to the Wulff Road station - was off duty at the time of the accident. Sweeting worked at Atlantis.
They were understood to be returning from a party to their Pinewood homes when the accident happened. Relatives said the two men had been best friends since primary school.
"Shortly after 4am, police received information of a traffic accident on East Street South and Malcolm Road. When officers arrived on the scene they met a vehicle, a white Chevy Malibu, crashed into a utility pole," ACP Dean said.
"Officers discovered the lifeless body of two males inside. A female, who was in the back seat, received serious injuries and was taken to the hospital where she is listed as serious. This is the only car we met on the scene and it is mashed pretty badly. We suspect speed was a factor in this incident but investigations continue."
In a statement, the Royal Bahamas Police Force Cadets said the loss of PC 3657 Gaitor "is a sad day for the force".
"Gaitor was indeed an officer and a gentleman. Well mannered, professional and he loved policing. This news is indeed tragic and most unfortunate," the statement said. "We extend condolences to his daughter, parents, grand mother, family members, the Royal Bahamas Police Force Family, and Police Cadets family and his friends. May God give you peace and comfort you during this most difficult time. May his soul rest in peace."
Anyone with information on this accident is asked to call police at 911 or 919, the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 328-TIPS.
Comments
banker 9 years ago
Why does all of this happen after 1:00AM in the morning .. including shootings? Decent folks are in bed at that hour.
Alex_Charles 9 years ago
that's a load of BS A large portion of our Armed robberies and shootings occur in broad daylight
arussell 9 years ago
Really? What about people who happens to work night jobs. I guess their not decent... The nerve of some humans..smh
Vesper 9 years ago
*they're
Honestman 9 years ago
Sad to say but anyone who stays out after midnight in New Providence takes their life in their hands.
atwr 9 years ago
How about the Police do road blocks and perform sobriety tests? Maybe then after each weekend a new wall around town will not be knocked down and lives will be saved!
GrassRoot 9 years ago
high time the police do sobriety tests. before they hop into a car.
sheeprunner12 9 years ago
............ but this is our problem ......... why is a police officer driving in a speeding car with rum, music, etc a that time of the morning ???????? Bad judgment and example for other civilians .................... this is our problem....... those who should know better are not doing the right thing ........... from PM to police to priest to parent ......... poor judgement/examples
UserOne 9 years ago
Where in the article does it say there was music and rum?
truetruebahamian 9 years ago
It does bother me that drunk driving is never listed as a cause or contributory cause of the many drunk or impaired-while-driving accidents that take place so frequently and damage to property, pets and persons get away with what should be a hard and heavy penalty handed down for endangerment and damage, often death.
John 9 years ago
With all the talks about drunk driving and sobriety tests has anyone stopped to consider that some other factor may have played a role in the fatal crash? What if the trio were being chased or what if they were forced off the road in a robbery attempt. This seem to be a common thing at nite where motorists are being robbed... Just saying.
TruePeople 9 years ago
I think people talking about drunk driving cus you often see people in traffic boozing and steering one time
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