Officials: Conn. man a ‘fugitive’

DARIEN — One day after skipping his court appearance in Anguilla, Scott Hapgood has been labeled a “fugitive” and an arrest warrant is being processed for his return to the British territory to face a manslaughter charge.

The 44yearold Darien resident is accused of killing hotel worker Kenny Mitchel during a violent confrontation while he was on a family vacation in April.

Hapgood was scheduled to appear Monday in an Anguillan court, but his defense team notified officials on the Caribbean island the night before that they advised their client to not return, Anguillan Attorney General Dwight Horsford said.

“The letter further stated that this advice rested on concerns for their client’s safety and the fairness of the judicial process in Anguilla,” Horsford wrote in a statement released Tuesday. “Both concerns are totally groundless.”

Mitchell’s death and the police handling of the investigation have prompted widespread social media outcries alleging racism and favoritism for white tourists who visit the Caribbean country.

“So this is how it works in America?” one person wrote Monday on the Unity for Justice Facebook page created by Mitchell’s supporters. “One doesn’t like the rules of the court they can decide they won’t appear and there are no consequences?”

Other posters pointed out that Darien is largely a white community with few residents of color and that the Royal Anguilla Police Force, which investigated the death, has repeatedly tried to placate Mitchel’s supporters by issuing vague press releases with little information.

“I say this with all due respect to you sir,” one person wrote on the police department’s Facebook page in April. “This press release and the previous lack thereof has placed us where we are. The handling and mismanagement, the optics and the way in which this case was handled from the get go created the storm that we have today. As an entity that rely on the public’s trust, you should have listened to the public from the jump. I pray this is a teachable moment for you and your team.”

Aguillan officials have repeatedly called for residents to tone down inflammatory rhetoric on social media with Horsford hinting that he’d take action against those who “scandalize the court” or “pervert the cause of justice.”

“This case is to be resolved by the courts and courts alone,” he said in a statement issued after Hapgood’s release on bond in August.

Hapgood’s attorneys have expressed concern for his safety due to the public outcry. But Anguillan Gov. Tim Foy contends that his country is committed to fairness in the judicial process.