In what is appearing to be very comical, police attempted to halt a show at Zen Nightclub on Friday featuring Machel Montano, Benjai, Patrice Roberts and Zan. The police told Machel, "Stop allowing the women to touch your (testicles)." Frustrated Montano said, "If all yuh want to lock meh up, lock meh up."
The problems with the police began after Machel Montano came on stage at Zen, after performances by Benjai, Zan and Patrice Roberts which were well received. As soon as Montano came out on stage several of the women standing at the front of the audience began to reach out and grab at his crotch, which has become a norm over the past couple of years.
Montano did hold one woman's hands, pressing it to his crotch as he sung seductively to her, but he moved on quickly after several seconds. According to reports, there was an officer on each side of the stage staring menacingly at Machel. One wore a bulletproof vest while the other had his hand on his gun.
After the crotch grabbing, Montano blurted out an expletive, that he quickly apologized for. The police were not angered by this but moved to the DJ area when more women began grabbing Machel's crotch. Machel asked why he was being harassed, to which the police replied by saying he should stop the women from holding his crotch. Machel stated it was not his fault.
Owner of Zen nightclub, Johnny Soong eventually appeared to calm down the situation while one of the officers kept watch on stage. Attorney Keith Scotland also went backstage and never returned to the front.
Belmont police said yesterday they had no information about any official police action against Montano on Friday. The singer along with Kenrel Roberts and Zan appeared in court on an assault charge stemming from an alleged incident in the same club in April, this year.
