The Regimental Police have been accused of "stealing" a car belonging to the girlfriend of an absentee soldier.

The father of the Bermuda Regiment Private, who does not wish his family to be identified, says two RPs arrived to arrest his son for missing his duties but then took the car – which was left locked on a car park.

The 41-year-old, from St. George's, said: "The RPs need to learn that they are not above the law and cannot go around behaving in this manner. Now I understand why so many young men do not wish to be a part of this system, for I now have lost all respect for it."

According to the father, the RPs arrived at his son's home in St. George's on the morning of Saturday, September 27, with a warrant for his arrest.

"Once I arrived at the scene, I noticed two RPs and a jeep parked next to the car belonging to my son's girlfriend," he said.

"I told the RPs who I was and inquired as to what was going on. They informed me that my son had ran, thus avoiding arrest and that they were now going to take the car that he was driving.

"I informed them that I did not have a problem with them handling the situation with my son but that the car did not belong to him so they have no right to take the car." He said he would fetch the spare key and come back "to get the car".

However, the father then said: "Upon my return they had taken the car."

For the next two hours he and his son's girlfriend awaited a response from the Regiment and Police as to the whereabouts of the vehicle. Only three hours later did one of the RPs inform them that the car had been taken to St. George's Police Station.

When they went to pick it up however, the car would not start. "They had obviously done something to it. The car is only three months old," the father said.

After telephoning the Regiment to complain, the two RPs came to fix the problem.

"Once they came, they undone whatever it was they had done to the engine," said the father. "We don't know that they tampered with to stop it from starting.

"I told them that they had stolen the car because they had a warrant to arrest my son, not a car that he does not even own. Before I left to go get the spare keys, the car was parked in a car park and locked. In order for them to take the car, they had to steal it."

The father now says he is seeking legal advice. "I have no problem with the RPs executing a warrant for my son but they went over and beyond when they stole a car that was not even his," he told The Royal Gazette.

"It is outright theft and I have lost respect for the Regiment."

He is now calling for the Bermuda Regiment to carry out an inquiry into the incident and yesterday met with Regimental Sergeant Major Errol McKenzie. "I told him it was a criminal act – to steal a car. Why should they get away with that?" he asked.

Last night Major Stephen Caton, Public Relations Officer for the Bermuda Regiment, said: "On September 27 the Regimental Police, as part of their endeavours to arrest the Private, secured a private vehicle – understood to belong to him – at the Police Station."

Major Caton said the Private had "not presented himself for military duties – as the law requires – since 2006".

"Inasmuch as the Private's father observes that the RPs are 'not above the law', the same holds true for his son. The Regiment views his son's absence as a serious offence," he said.

Major Caton added: "The Regiment takes this complaint seriously, yet as this matter is currently under review we cannot comment further."

Asked whether the RPs would be reprimanded, he said: "It is premature to say whether any offence has been committed by Regiment personnel."