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The hit-and-run driver who allegedly knocked down and killed a 75-year-old woman and her two grandchildren at Teshie in Accra has been arrested by the police.

The suspect, Patrick Laryea, 35, was arrested upon a tip-off by one of the passengers on the vehicle.

According to sources, the passenger, whose name was not given, assisted the police to arrest the suspect from his hideout hours after he was declared wanted.

Police sources have hinted that Laryea would be prosecuted soon.
 

Family consoled

The Accra Regional Police Commander, Commissioner of Police (COP) Dr George Dampare, made this known yesterday when he visited the bereaved family to sympathise with them at the Southern Command Barracks.

According to him, it was not easy tracing the driver “but through effective police intelligence, the support of the media and a good Samaritan, the police had been able to arrest the suspect.

“For a grandmother and two children to be killed in such a situation is very sad. The police will collaborate with the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces to support the family,” he said.

Dr Dampare advised drivers to drive responsibly with the approach of the Christmas festivities, adding that passengers must be bold to tell drivers to be cautious.

Staff Sergeant Owusu Sekyere, the father of the children and son of the 75-year-old woman, wept uncontrollably as his family members and his comrades consoled him.

The Commandant of the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, Brigadier General Sampson K Aderti, said the loss of the three family members of Staff Sergeant Owusu Sekyere was a huge blow and assured the family of the command’s support.

A spokesperson for the family, Nana Osei, commended the police for arresting the driver and said the family wanted justice.

The incident

Laryea, the driver of the 207 Benz bus, allegedly fled the scene after knocking down the woman and the two children at the Southern Command Gate last Saturday night.

The grandmother was identified as Adwoa Ode, while the names of her grandchildren were given as Jessica Owusu Sekyere, a 10-year-old class three pupil and Jacklyne Owusu Sekyere, an eight-year-old class one pupil.

Madam Ode and the children were returning from a funeral at Kordeabe, near Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region.

According to eyewitnesses, the three were crossing the road at the Southern Command Gate on the main Teshie-Accra road at about 7:30 pm when the vehicle hit them.

The Teshie Police responded to the distress calls of some eyewitnesses and went to the scene where they found the bodies of the deceased lying in the middle of the road.

At the scene, the police were able to identify the deceased as the children of Staff Sergeant Owusu Sekyere of the Southern Command through some identification cards which dropped from the handbag of Jessica.