Police in Auki, Malaita Province have arrested a male suspect for the alleged attack on a security guard at the provincial capital on Saturday 30th September 2017.
It was alleged that the arrested suspect punched the security guard when police were trying to negotiate with the guard to put away a weapon in his possession.
It was reported to police that the security guard had earlier asked the arrested suspect and his two friends to turn down or put off the loud music they were playing in their vehicle at the Auki Wharf area. The arrested suspect is believed to have gone to apologize to the security guard but it is further alleged that the guard instead used abusive words and chased him with an axe.
It was while the police were negotiating with the security guard to drop the axe that the suspect punched the security guard.
The suspect was later located and formally arrested.
Provincial Police Operational Manager (Ops Manager) Malaita Province, Superintendent Timothy Apaesi appeals to relatives of both parties (security guard and arrested person), “not to take the law into their own hands but allow the police to investigate the incident.”
“I must say, the man involved in attacking the security guard had been arrested and it is up to him to lodge a formal complaint against the guard for the alleged threat with a weapon,” explains Ops Manager Apaesi.