Faber's Fiance Accuses Him of Domestic Assault

Tonight the Leader of the Opposition, Patrick Faber is a wanted man. Despite efforts to have a domestic charge withdrawn, the Commissioner of Police says he is pushing through with warrant for Faber's arrest for the assault of his girlfriend Dr Shanikka Arnold - allegedly with a hammer - and the damage to her property, specifically, her laptop computer.

Now, very importantly - there is major pushback against this tonight. Dr. Arnold has sent out a signed statement saying that she, quote "withdraws any and all charges levied against Patrick Faber as a result of my report and statement made on January 19, 2022."

But, today the Commissioner of Police said that statement is solid - and because for the nature of the complaint he is pushing through with charges no matter what. Here's what he told the media in a Soon press briefing at 4:00 pm:

Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"Yesterday Mr. Arnold did visit the domestic violence unit in Belize City and she made a complaint against the leader of the opposition Mr. Patrick Faber and the report this morning of a domestic nature where she is alleging that Mr. Faber had caused damage to her laptop and had also assaulted her as she was about to leave their home in Lord's Bank area. Police have since issued a warrant in the first instance for the arrest of Mr. Faber and at this time he is current being sought by the police so that he can be charged and taken before the court."

Reporter
"It shouldn't be difficult to locate Mr. Faber. When did that warrant go out?"

Chester Williams
"If it is not difficult, perhaps you can tell me where he is."

Reporter
"So, what time did it go out?"

Chester Williams
"This morning."

Jules Vasquez
"Sir now I know my experience in these matters when it's a prominent public official, usually a call is made and some sort of appointment is made for them to go in, be processed, accept their charge etc. It's not necessarily where you go to their house. Some courtesy is shown, the man is a member of the parliament. What an attempt made to do that in this case to contact Mr. Faber directly?"

Chester Williams
"I know that Mr. Dickie Bradley had called me earlier and said that Mr. Faber had contacted him to have a meeting with him and that he would turn Mr. Faber into the police this afternoon. We are still awaiting for that to happen, nonetheless the police did visit the home of Mr. Faber in Lord's Bank and he was not there and we are looking in other places where we believe he might be in order to locate him."

Jules Vasquez
"Has there been any suggestion to say she will recant her statement sir?"

Chester Williams
"Well if she were to recant, she would have to do that at the court. The fact is we have obtained a statement from her and she requested court action and so we will procedure with the matter before the court and if she decide later on she does not wish the matter to go any further, then we suggest she goes to the court and do that and not through the police. The fact again with these domestic issues, we tend to at times downplay them and then it turned out to be worse, so in order for us to make sure that should something more serious happen later on down the road, we can always say that yes, the lady came to us, we did our part but then she went to the courts and she did xyz and our hands are tied. I know for a fact that all day yesterday and today she has been under extreme pressure from many different quarters trying to convince her not to pursue the matter and she has so far stood her grounds that she is going to pursue the matter and so we go with what she wants. Yes, should there be anything to suggest that someone is trying to cause her harm or force her to do certain things she doesn't want to, let me remind the public that the criminal court does provide an offense for attempt to suppress a witness and so anyone who approaches a witness and try to convince or threaten or persuade that witness not to go to court, commits an offense. It's a matter for her to report, if she feels uncomfortable with anyone approaching her and asking her to suppress her evidence, then such person can be arrested by law."

Jules Vasquez
"Now sir in this case has there been any prior report made that perhaps no court actions was requested?"

Chester Williams
"I think that there was an incident that took place on Monday and an unofficial report was made and at that particular juncture the complainant has requested that she didn't want anything, just for future reference and when she gave her official report yesterday, she also encapsulate what took place on Monday, so she made her report yesterday in respect to what took place yesterday and what took place Monday."

Jules Vasquez
"Now we have received persistent reports of 2 things, that a hammer was involved in inflicting some type of harm and that she used the leader of the opposition personal vehicle to go and make the report because the tires on her vehicle had been slashed, are you able to comment on those?"

Chester Williams
"I'm not sure about the tire being slashed for any vehicle but yes, there is allegation that a hammer was used and she claimed that Mr. Faber had hit her on her hands with a hammer causing her pain and yes she did use his vehicle to go to the station to make a report and I guess that was the best available vehicle for her to have been able to escape and go to the police station."

Jules Vasquez
"Might he also face a charge for damage to property?"

Chester Williams
"Yes he will be facing charge for damage to property in respect to the laptop as well."

Jules Vasquez
"Has the extend of her injuries being classified in the report we received was that she went to a medical facility to seek care and then them who alerted the the DVU."

Chester Williams
"Yes sir it has been classified as harm. I think that she had some bruises on her face, I think she said it was from her pushing on a door and he was also pushing on a door and the door hit her on the face causing bruises."

We stress that description of injuries alone is as strong an indictment against any public figure as there can be.

But, politically, Faber is a fighter and he is not walking away from this one - none at all.

This evening at 5:30 - his camp came out with a three pronged rebuttal of the statement made by Dr Arnold - including two statements from her.

The first is the withdrawal of her statement addressed to the commissioner of police - co-signed by two attorneys, OJ Elrington and David Morales. As we noted at the top, it says that she quote "withdraws any and all charges levied against Patrick Faber as a result of my report and statement made on January 19, 2022."

But we spoke to the Commissioner after that was issued - and he maintained the she can tell it to the judge; he is still pushing through with charges.

The second prong of the Faber pushback was a statement Dr Arnold posted on her Facebook page.

She says, quote, "The following statement comes after a difficult few days.

While we had hoped that the matter recently making the rounds could have been avoided in the public domain, we realize regrettably that the interferences and insinuations deriving from the visit to the Queen Street police station yesterday Thursday, January 19th, 2022 have now caused the need for the situation to be publicly addressed.

Firstly, We begin by saying that the situation is a misunderstanding, one that really is a matter that we have been dealing with privately….While we can assure the public that the rumors are inaccurate, we are at this time unwilling to disclose further private information in an attempt to protect me from any further public scrutiny. I appreciate that Patrick's number one priority at this time is my well being and the well being of our entire family.

Furthermore, I would also like to express my dissatisfaction with the spread of rumors via social media and traditional media houses because it only served to make this situation that much more difficult to navigate. While I appreciate the support from many; in the future, it is my hope that our privacy is respected as we navigate our personal lives together and apart."

End quote.

The third front of the pushback is a Facebook post from Faber himself - which is similar to his fiance's. It says "While we had hoped that such a matter in the public domain could be avoided, we realize regrettably that the inferences and insinuations deriving from the visit to the Queen Street Police Station yesterday…have now made it necessary for the situation to be publicly addressed.

We begin by stating that the situation is a misunderstanding, one that really is a matter that we have been dealing with privately….While we can assure the public that the rumors are inaccurate, we are at this time unwilling to disclose further private information in order to protect my fiance from public scrutiny.

My number one priority at this time is my fiance's wellbeing and the wellbeing of my entire family." End quote.

So, there it is - and in time for the evening news - a full and forceful retraction. But, while the matter is a personal one for the couple, the public dimension cannot be ignored, and the court of public opinion doesn't forget so easily. The public image of the Leader of the Opposition tonight is badly, perhaps fatally damaged - because this is not his first or second domestic incident.

UDP Chairman Concerned About Implications For Party

As we told you already - those statements were made via Facebook. They make it clear that Dr Arnold is dropping charges.

And while that may happen in court - the court of pubic opinion is what the UDP has to worry about. One of the leading members of the United Democratic Party who will have to grapple with the political fallout is Party Chairman Michael Peyrefitte. And it's like deja vu all over again. Viewers will remember back in June of last year when a video was leaked publicly. That footage captured Faber losing his temper at the home of his baby's mother.

On the basis of that moment of indiscretion, his leadership of the UDP was immediately challenged. He was almost recalled on the grounds of domestic anger management problems.

The in-fighting which left the Opposition Party crippled for months had finally settled down, and now, another scandal involving the Leader could threaten all of the progress that has been made since then. This morning - before the statement or its content are confirmed - Chairman Peyrefitte spoke via Zoom with our Daniel Ortiz:

Reporter
"Is there indeed a report that has been filed?"

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - UDP Chairman
"I know, based on like everybody else, I heard certain things. I want to know if a report was made. If an official report was made, then we will have to look at that report and then proceed from there. If no report was made, then we are in a place where without that official report, where do we go? So, it's really an unfortunate situation because when I heard about it, of course, I am praying and hoping that it wasn't true. I'm praying and hoping that somebody was just trying to play mischief and to a certain extent, I'm still praying for that. But the reality is our reality. So, if our report is forthcoming and Dr. Arnold did indeed make one or hasn't made one, we will have to look at the details of that and then proceed from there, but I don't want to speculate. Just talking about it. Just, talking about a possible situation is a huge distraction. It even made Johnny Briceno you're brave enough to give an interview yesterday. All of a sudden he's emboldened, crawl out of a hole, threw public servants and Joe Waight under the bus for this Microsoft 365 procedure didn't follow properly. All of a sudden, John, you get brave, and these are some of the things that that really, really becomes disheartening because indeed, we are well on our way back to healing, to being a United Democratic Party again, to putting up formidable positions to the people, and then you have this story that comes out."

Channel 7

Patrick Faber Was Wanted Following Domestic Abuse Allegations, But Fiancé Withdraws Charges

Opposition Leader Patrick Faber was wanted by the Belize Police Department, following a report made by his fiancé on Wednesday afternoon. The formal complaint filed by Dr. Shanika Arnold with the Domestic Violence Unit is of two domestic incidents that occurred at the couple’s residence in Lord’s Bank Village.  The second altercation which took place on January nineteenth, reportedly involved the use of a hammer, resulting in injuries being inflicted on Dr. Arnold.  The complainant, accompanied by attorney David Morales, visited the Queen Street Police Station yesterday where a statement was given regarding the incident. Faber, who has a history of allegations pertaining to domestic abuse, was to turn himself in earlier today.  Late this afternoon, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams held a press brief during which he outlined what has transpired since the report was filed at Eastern Division.  The latest twist in that saga is that Dr. Arnold has formally withdrawn her report in the presence of attorneys David Morales and O.J. Elrington. According to the ComPol, attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley had indicated that he would have been accompanying the leader of the United Democratic Party had he surrendered himself to police.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police, Belize Police Department

“Yesterday Ms. Arnold did visit the Domestic Violence Unit in Belize City and she made a complaint against the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Patrick Faber and the report is one of a domestic nature where she is alleging that Mr. Faber has caused damage to her laptop and had also assaulted her as she was about to leave their home in the Lord’s Bank area.  Police have since issued a warrant in the first instance for the arrest of Mr. Faber and at this time he is currently being sought by police so that he can be charged and taken before the court. The fact is that we have obtained a statement from her in which she had requested court action and so we will proceed with the matter before the court and if she decides later on that she does not wish the matter to go any further then we would suggest that she goes to the court and does that and not through the police.  The fact again, with these domestic issues, we tend to at times downplay them or underplay them and it turns out to be worst at the end of the day.  So in order for us to make sure that should something more serious happen later on down the road, we could always say that yes, the lady came to us, we did our part and then she went to the court, did X,Y,Z and our hands are clean. I know that Mr. Dickie Bradley had called me earlier and said that Mr. Faber had contacted him to have a meeting with him and that he would turn Mr. Faber in to the police this afternoon.  We are still awaiting for that to happen, nonetheless, the police did visit the home of Mr. Faber in Ladyville and he was not there and we are looking in other places where we believe he might be in order to locate him.”

Late this evening, Dr. Shanika Arnold took to her social media page to address the issue openly. She describes the situation as a “misunderstanding,” and says that it was the couple’s intent to resolve the matter privately.  She goes on to say in her post, “while we can assure the public that the rumors are inaccurate, we are at this time unwilling to disclose further private information in an attempt to protect me from any further public scrutiny.  I appreciate that Patrick’s number one priority at this time is my wellbeing and the wellbeing of our entire family”.  Following Arnold’s statement, U.D.P. Leader Patrick Faber also issued a statement of his own echoing what was shared by Dr. Arnold in her Facebook post.  Faber goes on to say, “while we had hoped that such a matter in the public domain could be avoided, we realize regrettably that the inferences and insinuations deriving from the visit to the Queen Street Police Station yesterday have now made it necessary for the situation to be publicly addressed.”

Channel 5

Hon. Faber taken to Court On domestic Abuse Charges

Tonight, Leader of the Opposition Patrick Faber has been cleared of a charge of domestic assault against his fiancee Dr Shanikka Arnold and damage to her laptop.

And while those criminal charges may be behind him, he's far from out of the woods on this one - Faber is now mired in a thorny political tangle - as his own party chairman is calling for his resignation.

We'll have all angles of this major national story coming up - but we start with his appearance in court this afternoon at 3:00 pm. Jules Vasquez was at the courthouse:

Flanked by attorneys Dickie Bradley and OJ Elrington, and a police escort, Leader of the Opposition Patrick Faber did a slow walk across the courthouse verandah - going from the magistrate's court room to the court office.

Shortly after, his fiancee, Dr Shannika Arnold - along with her attorney David Morales stepped quickly across, with her head down.

Faber and his legal team came out of the court office in 20 minutes - and confirmed that the charges had been dropped:

Richard Bradley, Attorney - Patrick Faber
"In court a few minutes ago was a farce. In this case before any need to arrest, the complainant had given thought, sought legal advice and said 'this is my fiancee, why am I so far down the road with this matter.' In court today, the doctor took the witness stand and the prosecutor ask questions and she said that it is my desire and I am asking this court not to proceed with the matter. On that basis, the magistrate is left with no choice, but to say that there is nothing against you, expect that you have been accused an allegation in relation to the destruction of a computer and that the complainant may have been hit in the process of whatever transpired. That is all. The magistrate ask the doctor questions in relations to the matter and the prosecutor pointed said have you been threatened, have you been induced or promised anything and so, because it is a reasonable concern. The police get a report and they do nothing and the matter escalates. There is no indication of that here. They will leave holding hands and they will work out their matter. This is a private matter and there was no need for information relating to what transpired to have been put out at the public."

Reporter
"Was any charge read to the leader of the opposition Mr. Faber in court? Was anything taken from him?"

Richard Bradley, Attorney - Patrick Faber
"Its just a procedure that you read the charge, that's all."

So he's had a charge read to him in court - how will Faber survive what comes next?:

Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"It is a matter that is private for my fiancee and I. In fact, it is a very difficult situation that we have battled for some time and I am not going to say more than that, because in deed as I said in my statement and she said in hers, we don't want any further public scrutiny. Not for me, because I signed up for this life of politics and you know that there is nothing left to be said that has not been said negatively about me and you know that my skin is very thick, but in terms of protecting her and making sure that she is in optimal health and that the public scrutiny against her is stopped, I will not go any further and all I will tell you is that I have now, long in fact dedicated myself to try to make sure that, that relationship that I have with Dr. Arnold is optimized and that it is the best possible relationship and I will continue to support her and we will continue to try to make that relationship work."

Jules Vasquez
"Sir, regardless of how you take it, this is not a good look being at magistrate's court having to go before a judge, having 2 attorneys..."

Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"If you were so concerned about that you wouldn't bring the cameras here."

Jules Vasquez
"I'm saying you are a bunch of men, you are 3 men talking about a woman who is a victim."

Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"You are aware that the only reason we are at the magistrate's court today is not even because of the issue, but because the commissioner takes these political instructions and there is an agenda on the part of certain people politically, I don't know who they are, who want to see this kind of embarrassment for me, want to see me in this situation - something that could have been avoided completely. In fact it is a waste of the court's time, it is a waste of the journalists' time. Maybe you will get more news tonight on a Friday night - more viewers tonight. Thats it."

Reporter
"Do you believe your political career would survive this? Anywhere in the world someone would be forced to resign."

Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"You know that I am a fighter and you know that I will keep going."

Reporter
"The chairman of the UDP, on his personal perspective that he would want to see you resign."

Faber appeared before Magistrate Baja Shoman in Court 2, where as you heard the charges were dropped. Notably, the media was not allowed to enter the courtroom. More on that later.

Faber Attorney Claims COMPOL Was Political

Faber's other attorney OJ Elrington was plainspoken against the Commissioner of Police. He said that the Compol acted wrongly and unethically in proceeding to bring a charge that had been recanted - and in divulging the details of the victim's complaint:

Orson "OJ" Elrington, Attorney for Patrick Faber
"I heard the Commissioner of Police made some comments on the news last night which were not only totally and completely legally wrong, but he made other comments which in my opinion were completely unbecoming of his office, they were unacceptable and in my opinion unethical. Firstly, he said that if a complaint is made that automatically you get charges if anybody makes a complaint, anybody with an iota of knowledge of the law knows that is completely and utterly false. At no time did he offered the leader of the opposition and our client the opportunity to respond to the allegations. Did he conduct any investigation or his office conducts any investigation at all to verify the veracity of the statements made. So that statement that he made is completely and utterly wrong and I am trying to use the kindest words possible. Furthermore, in his statement to the media last night, in an attempt to defend what can only amount to the fact that he is acting on a political instruction. There is no other explanation for it. He responded by not only converting allegations into facts, but he also at that moment violated an ethical principle, not for my client Mr. Faber, but for the complainant. I was in a meeting where she consistently repeated that the concern was that the contents of her statement be made public. That it was a private matter and that it should be within the confines of the court system. Only for the man who holds the highest office in the land for the police to blurt allegations on his own set of facts. I find that absolutely unacceptable."

"My position right now and I have not consulted with my client as yet nor my learned friend, but my position right now is that my client actually has a case in malicious prosecution, because these charges were brought on the basis of bias, malice and were totally unfounded."

Jules Vasquez
"Sir, but you are speaking from the position of a prosecutor. Mr. Williams said he is trying to protect the victim, because the pattern of behaviour shows that these incidents, even though recanted, there are done so under coercive pressure and there is often a repeat, because there is a pattern of behaviour, as it is with your friend."

Orson "OJ" Elrington, Attorney for Patrick Faber
"He is trying to protect her? What he did last night on the news is the opposite of that. That was a direct attack on that young lady which I find completely and utterly unacceptable and I will publicly and that I why I felt it necessary to put it on public record that that is unethical and unacceptable. Not in any situation is it that any police, much less the commissioner of police, a man that is supposed to be learned should be making up his own facts or revealing contents of allegations in a statement, having never even check the veracity of it, not even so much as a phone call. So, for me and that is what potherbs me the most is because that young lady was the subject of an attack verbally by the commissioner when it is he decided that he will release anything that she said in her statement. Again, the young lady said it over and over, I do not want the contents of this..."

Jules Vasquez
"But these would be adduced in open court any way, sir. You are trying to change who the perpetrator of the crime is."

Orson "OJ" Elrington, Attorney for Patrick Faber
"No sir. Again, there was nothing brought before open court just now. Not one accusation made beyond.... He could have simply said there is a complaint and we are pursuing that complaint. He does not need to go into the details of that complaint. That is the problem that I have. That is what I find unethical. That is what I find unacceptable."

COMPOL Rejects Claim Of Politicization

Late this evening, commissioner of police Chester Williams responded to the allegations and characterizations of clear political bias made by OJ Elrington. We spoke to him via phone a short while ago:

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"In respect to the allegations made by OJ Elrington about unethical, I don't, sometimes we need to look at those person who are speaking about ethical behaviour and I say no more where that is concerned, but I don't expect anything better from OJ and he is my friend and he will continue to be my friend, but I don't expect anything better from him. How could it be political? Was it the PUP who sent Ms. Arnold to fabricate a story against Mr. Faber? Was it the PUP who told Mr. Faber to assault the woman, if in fact he did assault her? Was it me who did it? How could it be? This is the thing, some of us men of influence, we believe that we can go abuse women, beat them up and we go in a corner and sweet talk them, have them withdraw the matter and then we act as if it never happened and we pretend to live life like normal. It needs to stop and the only way to put an end to these domestic abuse is by us taking a hard line and try to act in defence of those persons who are victims and those persons who have died from domestic abuse. It is too rampant in our society and many of our women and children have lost their lives to domestic violence, but it seems like that is not registering to some people."

And while that is the war of words - the real war is going to be within the UDP - as Faber will now face another formidable attack on his leadership - and it is left to be seen if he can survive the taint of another allegation of domestic abuse against him.

Channel 7

UDP Leader a free man after domestic violence case dismissed in court

Honourable Patrick Faber, is no longer wanted by police for the accusations of domestic violence and damage to private property. Faber was accused by his fiancée Dr. Shanikka Arnold, but Arnold recanted her complaint after a closed-door hearing at the Belize Magistrate Court on Friday, January 21st. Charges were dropped, and the case was dismissed, leaving Faber a free man.

When Faber went to court on Friday afternoon, he was represented by attorneys Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley and Orson Elrington. The UDP leader told the media that he was not in hiding, as was suggested. Faber also said he never received any indication that police wanted him, and it was unfortunate this private matter ended up in the public domain. Faber added that he and his fiancée are working out their issues, which has been a difficult situation. Faber also believes that the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, issued an arrest warrant because of a political attack against him by certain members of the current government.

Click here to read the rest of the article in the San Pedro Sun