Durban - A partially disabled 74-year-old Durban man has laid charges against three police officers after he was allegedly assaulted in an altercation with them.
Glenwood resident, Bernd Risch, was driving in Pinetown on Tuesday when he overtook several cars on Payne Street.
He then failed to stop when the officers tried to flag him down and instead drove on to Beviss Road and then to Old Main Road.
According to Risch, he did not stop because the officers, two women and a man, were travelling in an unmarked car.
He said he could only see their shirts and not the entire uniform and was concerned it might be a ruse.
Yesterday, Risch told the Daily News that he drove to a nearby wholesaler, Voltex, where he buys supplies for his electrical business, because there were a lot of people he knew there and he hoped he would be safe there.
“I stopped for a while to hear what they wanted and they asked me what I was doing, but I was not sure what they (people who flagged him down) wanted and I decided to drive off to Voltex,” said Risch.
The police followed Risch, who is partially disabled and cannot walk properly, and tried to detain him. His false teeth were knocked out during the following struggle.
“They accused me of running away, but I told them I hadn’t been running. I wasn’t sure they were police officers.
“They tried to handcuff me. I have a wristguard on the right hand that causes me a lot of pain and was very swollen, due to an operation I had about 10 years ago. I also got a cut and was bleeding on the left hand,” Risch said.
He said to prove that he had not been running away he drove himself to the police station.
According to Risch the police opened a case of reckless driving and abusive language and one of the women officers boasted to him that he would never win in court against them.
“I had to wait until the afternoon to open a case against them of fault arrest, assault and trauma.”
“They didn’t even listen to what I had to say and they laughed when I told them that they had aggravated my injury and also injured my left arm,” Risch said.
Risch’s wife, Mercedes, 72, said: “My husband only committed a traffic offence, the car the police was driving was not marked. He did not harm anyone, he told them to give him a fine.” She said that her husband had been scheduled for an operation yesterday on his right wrist, which had been injured prior to Tuesday’s incident.
Risch was due to appear in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane, said a case of inconsiderate driving had been opened at the Pinetown police station by a Sandile Blose against Risch.
Daily News