BY LEON B. CREWS

Sentinel Staff Writer

Early last Saturday morning, Ary Jean was behind the wheel of his Checker Cab when he got a call for a pickup.

“I picked up a fare in Ybor City and he wanted to go to Harbour Island. When we arrived, he got out of the cab, gave me a $20, and asked for $2.00 back.”

Jean said as that transaction was taking place, he was hit in the face and on the leg with raw eggs.

“The customer pointed at who threw the eggs, and I saw two people. I called 9-1-1, and when the officer arrived, he asked me what happened. When he asked me who did it, I pointed to the building.”

Jean said when the officer went to the building and to the apartment, the people inside refused to open the door.

“The officer came back and asked me what did I want him to do. He said he couldn’t force them to come to the door.

“I asked him what would happen if I threw a rock into the window, and he said I’d go to jail.”

Jean said he described what they were wearing, and he saw one of them at the rear of the building making obscene gestures at him.

“The officer had left, so I tried calling him again. When he came back, he again asked me what I wanted him to do. He also cursed me, and refused to give me his badge number.

“I called 9-1-1 a third time and requested to see a supervisor. Another officer told me I could go to jail for using 9-1-1 for this purpose. I was eventually arrested and charged with misuse of the 9-1-1 system.”

Jean said as a victim, he doesn’t think it was fair for him to be arrested, and the people who hit him with the eggs were never arrested.

“The officer handcuffed me, took my cell phone, and put me in his cruiser.

“To make matters worse, when my brother came out to get my taxi, the officer told him if he tried, they would arrest him. They told him my taxi would be impounded. This whole thing cost me the money to be bonded out of jail and the impound fee to get my taxi back.”

Jean, a Haitian citizen, said he tried to explain to the officer, he didn’t understand the law regarding the use of the 9-1-1 system, and if he had, he would have handled the situation another way.

“It didn’t make any difference to the officer, because I was jailed anyway. This is not the way the law is supposed to work. They are not supposed to lock up victims of crimes, and let the perpetrators go free, but that’s exactly what happened to me.”

Police spokesperson, Andrea Davis, said when the officers arrived at the scene, Jean wanted them to kick the door in at the apartment where the eggs were allegedly thrown from, and arrest everyone inside.

“When the officer told him he couldn’t do that, Jean threatened to throw eggs at the apartment. The officer told him if he did that, he would be arrested, and that didn’t set well with Jean.”