Cop runs over 8 devotees

328 06.06.2012 Police tape at the crime scene where two police men were shot and wounded by unknown men.The two officers were on duty when they stopped and searched two men who looked suspicious to them. The shooting took place at Monument Park in Krugersdorp. No arrest have been made yet. Picture: Keran Ducasse

328 06.06.2012 Police tape at the crime scene where two police men were shot and wounded by unknown men.The two officers were on duty when they stopped and searched two men who looked suspicious to them. The shooting took place at Monument Park in Krugersdorp. No arrest have been made yet. Picture: Keran Ducasse

Published Mar 31, 2015

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Durban - Another Durban policeman has allegedly been caught drunk behind the wheel. This time a “heavily intoxicated” off-duty Durban harbour policeman was arrested at the weekend after he allegedly drove into a group of Hindu devotees reciting rites in Eastbury Drive, in Phoenix, at the weekend.

Fifteen minutes after he had struck the devotees, the policeman sped past the scene before he was chased and arrested.

Two witnesses recounted the details of the accident on Monday.

Devotee Darryl Sew said the procession was in the road, going to a house where the prayer would finish at about 10pm on Saturday evening, when the incident happened.

“Two guys were in front flagging down oncoming traffic. The devotees walked on the side of the road. A white Hyundai Getz approached and it was flagged down.

“It slowed down initially, but then it accelerated. Thank God the two guys managed to jump out of the way.”

Five people were not so lucky and sustained fractures and head and body injuries, while another sustained a broken pelvis.

One of the injured was still under observation at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

Gareth Naidoo of KZN VIP Protection Services, who was first on the scene, said the company’s ambulance service had received a call for a pedestrian knocked down by a vehicle.

“When we got there we noticed about eight people lying on the road,” he said. “They all had serious injuries. We called for more ambulances and while we were waiting… the crowd started screaming: ‘Here’s the car coming again.’

“The car just flew by. That’s when I got in my car and started chasing it. We were driving at quite a high speed – about 170/180km/h,” he said.

The KZN VIP unit finally stopped the car at the Phoenix Highway and R102 intersection.

“He didn’t want to stop … We had to cut in front of him. He hit a curb, causing two of his tyres to burst, and that’s when he stopped,” said Naidoo.

“While metro police inspected the car they found an appointment card. He is a policeman with the harbour police.”

He said the two men in the vehicle appeared to be “highly intoxicated”.

“We found beer bottles in the car … It was badly damaged – windscreen shattered, bonnet dented,” he said.

Police spokesman Thulani Zwane confirmed the incident.

He said: “As the security guard stopped the vehicle, a metro police vehicle stopped to assist.

“The metro police constable established that the driver was under the influence of alcohol.

“A 38-year-old driver was arrested and charged for drunken driving. He was also charged for reckless and negligent driving.”

Police said on Monday that the officer was to appear in court but could not confirm the outcome of the appearance.

Meanwhile the Pinetown policeman who was caught on video footage which went viral on social media after he allegedly was spotted driving drunk last week had been subjected to an internal probe, police said on Monday.

The Mercury

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