Arrest turns violent
Alex Eliseev | 15 May 2012
JOHANNESBURG - A Johannesburg woman on Monday detailed her violent account with Douglasdale police after the attempt to take her into custody for drunk driving turned ugly.
The 35-year-old woman described to Eyewitness News how she was slapped, punched and dragged across a hospital by officers from the Douglasdale police station.
She subsequently laid criminal charges against the policemen.
The woman was pulled over in the middle of the night last week for allegedly driving under the influence.
She claimed she had no idea what sparked the officers’ rage and described being dragged through a hospital before being violently bundled into a van and taken to the police station.
“He pushed me against the white canopy and continued hitting me.
“I kept screaming, ‘he’s hitting me, he’s hitting me, you’ve got to stop him from hitting me’.”
The attack left her battered and bruised, “He hit me straight on my jaw bone and I actually thought he’d broken it.”
The incident left the woman doubting the police's ability to protect her.
“He kicked me and said, ‘this is how the police do it in South Africa’.”
The charges against her have been provisionally withdrawn in court.
Douglasdale police are however investigating the woman’s claims as well as counter charges of resisting arrest and assault, confirming that the station commander was investigating the case personally.
The officers claimed the woman had resisted arrest because she was drunk.
(Edited by Clare Matthes)
