Police van gate -crashes store
July 16 2014 at 06:00am
BLUE LIGHT BASH: A police van crashed through the window of a Parowshop,
damaged displays and came to a stop against an interior wall after it went out
of control. The driver and passengers were slightly injured. The store was not
occupied at the time.
XolaniKoyana
BUSINESS owner Tony Lakay woke up to a hole in the
ceiling of his store after a break-in last week – and early yesterday a railway
police van crashed through the front window, ploughed through the displays
before coming to a stop against a wall.
The impact tripped the alarm and ADT security
guards roused the family just before 4am, Lakay’s daughter, Deo-Lindie, said.
When her father reached the power tools and decor
products store in Voortrekker Road, Parow, from his Panorama home about 15
minutes later, he found a trail of destruction and the damaged police van
lodged inside.
Witnesses told the Lakays that the van had been
heading towards Goodwood from Bellville when the driver lost control, hit a
kerb, veered over an island and crashed through the window of Outdoor Power.
Police were investigating the circumstances of the
accident, as well as possible reckless and negligent driving charges, SAPS
spokesman AndrèTraut said.
Deo-Lindie said most of the products in the decor
section – which she owned with her mother – had been damaged. Her family were
glad no one had been hurt, however.
Thousands of rand worth of equipment were stolen in
the break-in last week.
Lakay has owned the business for 18 years.
Deo-Lindie was pleased with the manner in which
police were dealing with the matter. “You just have to remain positive. We have
to move on. At the end of the day it is all materialistic things and no one was
hurt.”
The business would be open today. A tow truck has
removed the police van.
xolani.koyana@inl.co.za
