The Bizarro World of Nassau

Just when you think that you are exiting The Bahamas "twilight zone" - Rod Sterling appears from nowhere to haul you back in. There is story in today's paper that you may have trouble believing. The amazing thing is not that it is true but that the press deemed it newsworthy enough to stick on their front page. It really sums up The Bahamas - its inefficiencies, the bureaucracy and the laissez-faire attitude. We sometimes think that the sun and sea air combine to gnarl the brain.

The story goes under the heading: "Prisoner never escaped, police now confirm". You probably get the drift already. Anyway what happened was that a dangerous criminal was taken downtown from the notorious Fox Hill prison with a bunch of other prisoners to his court hearing. No slight matter - the guy is "up" for armed robbery and possession of dangerous drugs! While in custody in town he "escaped" by apparently "walking out of lockup" and vanishing into thin air. Bahamian PC plod immediately sprung into action issuing an "all points bulletin" and carrying out an island wide manhunt. This went on for 48 hours. Well, I guess just as the police were about to chalk up another unsolved mystery it appears that the "escaped" prisoner was identified in his cell in jail! How come I hear you ask - was it some kind of David Copperfield illusion or Caribbean voodoo.......I'm afraid not.

What happened was that the prisoner felt it was time to break his custodial monotony and give the police a wrong name at round up at court. The cops accepted this, threw him back on the bus to jail (even though his "new" name wasn't on the roster) and started looking for the "fugitive". A day later, after "conducting an intensive inquiry on an individual who was in custody who fit the description" of the criminal (I couldn't make this up) the police made the connection. And all was well again in Nassau.

The coup de grace at the end of the article states that in addition to armed robbery, the prisoner "will also be charged with deceit of a public officer." Obviously not a difficult thing to do!