Robbed by EMPD
He added that when pulled over,
he remained compliant and civil to the three officers.
December 31, 2014
Mr Smith was told the Edenvale
SAPS could not open a case against EMPD officers.
Aggressive
officers from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) threatened
Edenvale resident, Mr Brian Smith*, with arrest before taking money and a GPS
from his car.
When he
tried to lay a charge against the officers, Mr Smith was told the Edenvale SAPS
could not open a case against EMPD officers.
Mr Smith
was returning home from a function at the Birchwood Conference Centre on Friday
night, November 14, when he was stopped by EMPD officers at the intersection of
First Avenue and Horwood Street.
“The
officers were waiting at the intersection and I had seen their blue lights
flashing from some distance away. I had only consumed three Savannah Dry drinks
over the course of the evening and was not concerned about my alcohol levels,
or about my fitness to drive,” said Mr Smith.
He added
that when pulled over, he remained compliant and civil to the three officers.
“The
officers were in uniform and had official EMPD vehicles in attendance,” he
said.
The officers
claimed he was drunk and threatened Mr Smith with arrest, without conducting a
breathalyser test or offering to take him for blood tests.
“I was
asked to get out of my car and two of the officers plundered the vehicle, while
their colleague verbally threatened and abused me to keep me out of their way,”
Mr Smith said.
He added
that the officers wore no name tags and refused to produce appointment
certificates when he asked.
“They
were arrogant and I was outnumbered and intimidated. When I took out my
cellular phone to call my attorney, the interrogating officer knocked it out of
my hand onto the street, breaking the screen in the process,” said Mr Smith.
“My GPS,
as well as its mounting and power cord, were removed from its bag in my cubby
hole and about R1 400 was taken from a bag in my boot. The officers also
removed R120 from my back pocket,” he said.
Mr Smith
later found that his girlfriend’s purse, which contained a small amount of cash
and credit cards, had also been taken from his boot.
“I was
then sworn at and told to leave. I was in shock and received trauma counselling
the following day,” he said.
“When I
visited the Edenvale Police Station on November 16 to lay a charge against the
officers involved, I was told the Edenvale SAPS could not lay a change against
officers from the EMPD and that the matter would be investigated internally by
the EMPD,” said Mr Smith.
“The
worst case scenario in this matter is that those officers were legitimate metro
officers who are meant to protect us as citizens,” said Mr Smith.
The
acting spokesperson for the Edenvale SAPS, Lieutenant Colonel Robbie Roberts,
said Mr Smith should not have been refused help when he wanted to open a case
against the officers involved.
“We
cannot accept this type of behaviour. A full investigation will be launched to
get to the bottom of this matter,” said Lt Col Roberts.
The
spokesperson for the EMPD, Chief Superintendent Wilfred Kgasago, said contact
would be made with Mr Smith and a case opened against the officers involved.
The
matter will be investigated by the Standards and Integrity Unit of the EMPD.
*Identity
withheld to protect the complainant during investigations.
