Metro police arrest paramedic at accident scene
Patient waits 30 minutes for treatment after paramedic is arrested.
22 June 2012 | Charmaine Slater
Mr Jonathan van Wyk, a member of the ambulance crew who responded to the scene, said there are seven witnesses to testify that he did not swear at the officer and that the officer instead pushed him in the face.
"The officer said that we should take the patient to Bedford Gardens Hospital. I told him that medical aid rules state that the patient needs to be transported to the nearest hospital from the scene of the accident, which was Arwyp Hospital," Mr van Wyk said.
He added that the officer then told him that he was being racist and tried to take the patient out of the ambulance.
"I asked him for his name and badge number so that we could note that he took the patient out of the ambulance. He refused and pushed me in the face. He then told me I was under arrest. I was told to sit on the ground next to the patient while they waited for another ambulance to arrive. Myself and the patient sat there for 30 minutes waiting for another ambulance to arrive. He was injured and bleeding and we were not allowed to continue treatment," Mr van Wyk said.
According to him the officer also chased an Advanced Life Support paramedic from the scene.
He was then taken to the Bedfordview Police Station.
"I was only released after 5pm," he said.
Mr Van Wyk will appear in the Edenvale Magistrate's Court this morning on charges of crimen injuria.
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