The Suthpen Telescopic Aerial Platform (ladder truck) sent to Morant Bay , Jamaica by the Hartford City Council. Hartford Police Sergeant Andrew Lawrence of the Caribbean Trade Council, 2nd from Left.
The equipment above, including turnout gear, Hurst Tool, 3000 feet of hose, 15 Air packs and 30 spare air bottles, amongst other items, were part of the missing shipment that never made it to our Sister City of Morant Bay Jamaica as per the Council's resolution
In July of 2008, at the request of Hartford's Mayor at the time, Eddie A. Perez, The Hartford City Council passed a resolution to donate a surplus fire truck, pictured above, to Hartford's sister city of Morant Bay, Jamaica. The council resolution is below.
Through e-mails obtained by "We The People" it appears that the truck and the associated equipment was shipped to Jamaica, apparently under the supervision of Andrew Lawrence of The Caribbean Trade Council. Lawrence is also a Hartford Police Sergeant assigned to the Internal Affairs Division currently.
According to an e-mail obtained by "We the People" sent from Hartford Fire Department Equipment Superintendent Michael Smith to , at the time Assistant Chief Edward Casares, the need to send the truck to Jamaica was questioned by Smith. He stated that "(former Chief) Teale got us into this" and states "this will cost you...I told him(Teale)the truck was to be junked". Smith further states that "this was all to make Andrew(Lawrence) look good to his peeps".
Smith also apparently expressed frustation with the demands to refurbish the truck for shipping. In the e-mail he state " I don't want to start repairing a truck we junked.He( Lawrence) thinks I can just walk away from my job and go do what I want, like he does
In other e-mails it appears that Casares tells smith to make the truck "safe" so that Hartford is not embarrassed. Eventually, it appears that the truck was shipped to a dock in Philadelphia at a cost of $3,000 to be put on a boat and shipped to Jamaica.
In addition, according to various e-mails, it appears that both Lawrence and Walter Benjamin of Caribbean Travel Agency were instrumental in getting the necessary paperwork to ship the truck to Jamaica.
Now here is where the story takes a few unexpected turns.
In the fall of last year, Mayor Marsha Francis of Morant Bay, Jamaica was in Hartford at the invitation of Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra. During a dinner reception, sources overheard a conversation between Segarra and Francis in which the Jamaican Mayor, made a request of Segarra for a fire truck. The source, realizing we had already sent a fire truck per the 2008 Council resolution, questioned what happened to the original truck.
Again, according to sources, the response was that the truck had been sold in Jamaica and never made it to Morant Bay. It apparently did arrive at the dock in Saint Mary , Jamaica and then was diverted to a private entity.According to sources on the ground in Jamaica as well as newspaper accounts, the truck is most likely at Ian Fleming International Airport in Saint Mary Jamaica, not Morant bay , where it was supposed to end up.
Link to article outlining the vehicle obtained by the Jamaican Fire Brigade, believed to be Hartford's donation intended for Morant Bay
In a phone conversation with Morant Bay Mayor, Marsha Francis by telephone, she confirmed that the truck never made it to Morant Bay, she had agreed to answer questions through e-mail regarding the vehicle. After sending the e-mails, I never received a response.
On January 15, 2013, the Hartford City Council passed another resolution to send another truck to Morant Bay. It appears that Mayor Segarra may have been made aware that the first vehicle never arrived, but that information apparently wasn't relayed to the current Council before they voted on the new resolution. Segarra was a member of the Council when the first truck resolution was approved. Councilman Ken Kennedy and Dr. Larry Deutsch were also on the Council at the time.
It appears that no one questioned the need for the second truck to Morant Bay, at least not publicly.
The second truck has not been shipped to Jamaica as of this date. According to Police sources. Lawrence is currently the subject of an Internal Affairs Investigation into the matter and other agencies may potentially be investigating the case.
When I realized the scope of the matter, WFSB Investigative reporter and Hartford Bureau Chief Len Besthoff worked on this also and his story can be seen on WFSB.com. Thank you Len for your help.
Click here to view the I-Team Report
Through e-mails obtained by "We The People" it appears that the truck and the associated equipment was shipped to Jamaica, apparently under the supervision of Andrew Lawrence of The Caribbean Trade Council. Lawrence is also a Hartford Police Sergeant assigned to the Internal Affairs Division currently.