A serious allegation of police misconduct has emerged from Bimini, Bahamas, where a local mother has publicly accused officers of physical and verbal abuse against her 26-year-old son during his time in police custody. Alethia Romer-Rolle claims officers beat her son, Hakeem Rolle, pulled down his trousers, and made unwanted sexualized physical advances while interrogating him about alleged drug trafficking activity on the island.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force has confirmed that it has launched an official investigation into the claims, after Rolle’s family submitted a formal complaint to the Complaints and Corruption Unit based in Grand Bahama. Superintendent Nicholas Johnson, who leads the Criminal Investigation Department and serves as police press spokesperson for northern Bahamas, confirmed the inquiry is active and ongoing. “It’s an active investigation, and we don’t comment until they establish some facts,” Johnson stated in a press briefing.
According to Romer-Rolle, the incident stemmed from the August 21 arrest of Rolle and 27-year-old Astra Armbrister, who were taken into custody near the entrance to Bimini Bay on suspicion of loitering. The two men operate a small local golf cart rental business, and were waiting near the Resorts World Bimini cruise terminal, where thousands of tourists disembark daily, when police detained them around midday immediately after a cruise ship docked. Rolle told officers he was only in the area to drop off golf cart keys to a client, but the explanation did not prevent his arrest, his mother says.
After the pair were taken into custody, officers searched Romer-Rolle’s home and notified her that the men would remain in holding for 48 hours. The mother says she spent the next two nights in a state of crippling anxiety, unable to sleep for fear of what might happen to her son while in police custody. “I tossed and turned all night Friday and Saturday, and I prayed, ‘please don’t let them touch my child,’” she recalled.
Rolle and Armbrister were ultimately released from custody two days later on Sunday, August 23. As they walked to the car following their release, Rolle immediately told his mother that officers had assaulted him during interrogation, Romer-Rolle says. The mother detailed the disturbing claims: officers repeatedly beat Rolle on his buttocks while pressing him to name people involved in drug dealing on the island, pulled down his pants and attempted to grab his genitals. She also alleged one officer threatened Rolle with graphic profanity, held a key close to his eye and told him, “They didn’t tell you I was the f***** devil, that’s what my name is.”
Rolle developed noticeable swelling from the assault while still in custody on Friday, and his formal request for medical care was denied by holding staff, according to the allegations. “My son said he had some swelling and asked for assistance to go to the clinic, and they denied him that from Friday,” Romer-Rolle said. Only after their release on Sunday were both Rolle and Armbrister able to visit the local Bimini clinic to have their injuries formally documented for the complaint.
The experience was so distressing for Romer-Rolle that she required medical attention herself after hearing her son’s account. She was referred to the Accident and Emergency Department at Rand Memorial Hospital in Grand Bahama, where she spent approximately five hours receiving care the day before the story broke.
Romer-Rolle has also publicly questioned the legality of the original loitering arrest, noting that there are no posted signs prohibiting public access to the area where her son and Armbrister were waiting. She argued the two men were simply working to earn an honest living, rather than committing any offense. “What do they want them to do? They want them to kill? They want them to thief? They’re hustling and you’re saying loitering? They’re hustling trying to make their own money,” she said.
The mother added that allegations of routine police brutality have been widespread on Bimini for a long time, and she is calling for an end to the practice. “This beating is something that needs to stop. This is going on too long on this island,” she emphasized.
When the family first attempted to file their complaint on Bimini, they were told the report had to be submitted to the unit in Grand Bahama. The complaint has now been formally filed, and the family has retained legal representation to move the case forward. Romer-Rolle says she has been notified that an assigned investigator will travel to Bimini in the coming days to conduct on-site interviews and gather additional evidence for the inquiry.
Local news outlet The Tribune attempted to reach out to senior police leadership on Bimini for comment, but was told that Sergeant Murray, the senior officer in charge of the island’s police force, was unavailable for an interview.