Kraaifontein police, traffic officers in hot
water over ‘brutality, unlawful arrest’
Sunday 09 November 2014
KRAAIFONTEIN POLICE, TRAFFIC OFFICERS IN HOT
WATER OVER ‘BRUTALITY, UNLAWFUL ARREST’
By Desiree Rorke (@dezzierorke)
2014-02-11 15:23
Bruises on Chris Erwee's following the
alleged brutality and wrongful arrest.
An unlawful arrest lawsuit
and criminal charges are pending against the Kraaifontein police station and
two provincial traffic officers respectively, after an alleged incident of
brutality against a retired naval officer.
The incident occurred on 13
January, when Chris Erwee (60), was en route the N1 to the Wingfield military
infirmary in Goodwood to collect prescription medication.
His traumatic experience at
the hand of law enforcers began at 10:00 when he was pulled over by two traffic
officers just past the Kraaifontein off-ramp.
Nightmare
What seemed to be a routine
inspection soon turned into a two-day nightmare for this veteran.
Bruises on Chris Erwee's arms following the alleged
brutality and wrongful arrest.
Erwee tells of his ordeal
in a sworn statement made to the Kraaifontein police afterwards.
“While waiting for him (the
traffic officer) to finish with the first motorist he pulled off
simultaneously, I released my safety belt in order to take my wallet out of my
back pocket. My driver’s licence was in my wallet. When he eventually
approached me, his first comment was: ‘Why are you not wearing your safety
belt?’, to which I responded that I was wearing it but removed it in order to
produce my licence,” said Erwee in the statement.
According to Erwee, the
traffic officer then responded by calling him a liar and telling him that he
would issue him a fine for not wearing a safety belt.
At this point Erwee assured
him that he was wrong but to continue to issue the fine as he was afraid of
being late for his medical appointment at the infirmary.
Surgery
Erwee was diagnosed with
glandular cancer last year, for which he had to undergo major surgery a month
ago, with ongoing medical treatment. He also suffers from a chronic nervous
system disorder that causes major pain and discomfort when not treated and high
blood-pressure.
“He took my licence card
and instructed me to wait in my vehicle. After waiting approximately 10
minutes, I ... approached him where he was sitting in his government vehicle
... and told him I was going to be late for my appointment and needed to go,”
Erwee stated.
At this stage Erwee even
showed him the scar on his throat to confirm the surgery he underwent.
According to the statement
issued, Erwee realised at this point that the officer was not going to let him
go soon and he asked him to return his licence so that he could be on his way.
“In a very rude way he
again told me that I better just wait. I then said to him I was now going to
leave, and on my return would collect the fine as well as my licence from the
provincial administration depot where he is based. I started to drive off,”
Erwee alleged.
He was subsequently forced
off the road and waited another five minutes, during which he stated he
suffered much pain and discomfort.
“After again seeing no
progress in his ability to issue the fine, I said that I was now leaving
because I was going to miss my appointment. I started driving off again after
which he again with siren and flashing lights forced me off the N1.”
Disrespect
“I said to him in
Afrikaans: ‘Jy mag dit waarmee jy nou besig is mos nie doen nie’.
“He responded by saying;
‘Jy? Jy? Who’s your jy! I am not a dog that you can call me jy! You are
disrespecting me and discriminating against me and my culture!’
“I explained to him that
the English for jy is ‘you’ and that there is nothing discriminatory in the
term ‘jy’.”
Erwee was then allegedly
forced into the officer’s vehicle. Minutes later another female officer climbed
into the back of the vehicle and according to Erwee’s statement said: “This
bastard is sitting too comfortably!”
She then allegedly released
the adjustment lever for Erwee’s seat backrest and kicked the seat forward into
the dashboard.
She then purportedly
suggested that he “still looked too comfortable” and that his hands should
rather be cuffed behind his neck.
“I said to them that because
of the operation I had in December 2013, the scar tissue of my neck wound makes
it extremely difficult for me to place both my hands behind my back at the same
time. It causes great discomfort and strain on my neck. I asked them to please
just let it be as I was at this time already starting to experience pain in my
wrists from the cuffs, as well as the pain and high blood pressure associated
with my condition,” Erwee stated.
The officer apparently then
opened his door, grabbed the cuffs on his wrists and violently jerked him out
of the vehicle by the handcuffs.
“He unlocked the left-hand
cuff, removed it and they attempted to force my arms behind my back to which I
naturally resisted as this position proved to be excruciatingly painful and
impossible for my physical condition,” Erwee stated.
“When seeing my resistance
to this she aimed to hit me with her clenched fist. I said in Afrikaans; ‘Dit
sal jou laaste hou wees,’ meaning that if she attempted to hit me, I would not
hesitate to hit her back. She immediately said that she was now going to charge
me for threatening her with violence!”
After a while Erwee was
forced back into the traffic vehicle and his vehicle was driven away by the
female officer. He was then taken to the Wingfield military infirmary by the
other officer.
On arrival there Erwee
requested that the cuffs be removed to spare him the humiliation.
This request was apparently
ignored and he spent 40 minutes at the infirmary in handcuffs.
He was then taken to the
Kraaifontein police station were he was charged with crimen injuria and
threatening an officer.
Threats
According to Erwee’s
statement the traffic officer then threatened him with being jailed with
hardened criminals if “he was not careful about what he said”.
At about 13:00, he requested
to make a telephone call to inform his family of his whereabouts, a request
that was denied, he said.
By 19:30 that evening, and
after continuous requests, he was still not allowed to make a call.
By 22:30, his family, who
was by this time filled with worry, managed to locate him after phoning various
police stations.
A family member contacted
the station and informed then of Erwee’s critical medical condition, but they
were allegedly merely told that he was unreasonable and rude with all the
police officers and that if they could not calm him down, he would be facing
more charges.
“I was at this point
understandably very upset as I was firstly wrongfully accused of not wearing a
safety belt ... secondly assaulted by the so-called peace officers, thirdly
humiliated in front of my ex-colleagues, fourthly wrongfully arrested ... and
then completely ignored when requesting my rightful phone call ... I was
mentally and physically abused and traumatised by this whole ordeal,” Erwee
stated.
When his family took him a
bottle of Lucozade at 02:00 that night, they were allegedly told that they were
being unreasonable.
“I have served this country
for more than 43 years in the military department without ever breaking the
law. I have raised two children as a widower for more than 15 years and have in
the best possible way tried to be an impeccable example to them by teaching
them to be law-abiding citizens.
Never
guilty
“I retired in 2013 from the
navy in a senior position, and have never made myself guilty of any form of
discrimination or criminal behaviour... Anyone who cannot see that I am old,
physically fragile as a result of my illness, and harmless, must be totally
inhumane,” Erwee stated and then poses the question: “Does no one at
Kraaifontein SAPS have the common sense to identify the futility of arresting a
senior citizen for apparently not wearing a safety belt?”
He was only released later
the day and subsequently laid charges of assault against the traffic officers
involved and initiated a lawsuit against the police.
Provincial traffic director
Donald Lakay told TygerBurger that the department viewed the allegations made
against the two officers in a very serious light, but that he was not aware of
the criminal charges against them.
“My office has launched an
internal investigation into the incident which might lead to disciplinary
action against the officers,” he said.
Police spokesperson,
warrent officer Khunjulwa Sam at the Kraaifontein police station confirmed that
a disciplinary file was registered at the Kraaifontein police station regarding
the allegations made and that an investigation was ongoing.
- TygerBurger
