'Drunk' cop crashes SAPS vehicle into pole
4
January 2017, 8:43pm / Bertram Malgas
The
police officer allegedly crashed a SAPS van into a pole
A
police officer was bust for 'drunk driving' in Eastridge. Picture: Supplied
Bottles
were found in the police van.
The
police officer allegedly crashed a SAPS van into a pole
A
Cape Town police officer was caught allegedly driving drunk after speeding down
a busy road before crashing into a pole.
Witnesses
say the man driving a police van sped down 6th Avenue in Eastridge, Mitchells
Plain, on Friday at 7pm.
He
allegedly hit a signpost after swerving to avoid a taxi that had stopped at a
pedestrian crossing near Cherry Lane.
The
cop was dressed in work boots and pants, with a casual green T-shirt.
Police
have confirmed that the officer, attached to the Public Order Policing in
Faure, has been arrested on a charge of drunk driving.
A
concerned resident says the cop van was “littered with liquor bottles, and the
cop could barely stand up straight”.
The
resident says the policeman was staggering up and down the street, slurring his
words as he swore at onlookers as they took photos and videos on their
cellphones.
A
witness explains: “He was walking around swearing at the people while they were
taking pictures of him, telling the people, ‘ja, julle vat foto's, ek skiet
julle in julle ma se * ***’ (Yes, you taking pictures, I will shoot you in your
mother's vagina).”
In
a short video clip shown to the Daily Voice, the man can be seen standing near
his van, looking dazed and confused, squinting bloodshot eyes.
The
resident says people called the police, and two vans with four police officers
pulled up.
But
instead of arresting the cop, the officers chatted to their colleague.
The
bystander says: “We asked the police why they don’t arrest this guy, but they
just made as if they didn’t hear us.”
By
7.30pm, 30 minutes after the accident, a senior member of the Mitchells Plain
police arrived on the scene.
“He
questioned the police officers as to why the drunk cop was not in custody,”
says the resident.
The
man was then loaded into the back of a police van and taken away.
“If
he wants to drink he should be off-duty in plain clothes and not using
government vehicles,” the man adds.
Police
spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut confirmed the cop’s arrest.
Traut
says: “A police warrant officer from Public Order Policing Faure was arrested
on 30 December 2016 in Mitchells Plain for driving an official police vehicle
while under the influence of alcohol.”
Traut
adds the cop faces both criminal charges and a disciplinary hearing.
Daily
Voice
