Cape Town - A Cape Flats dad, who got caught up in a cop car crash on the M5 highway, is angry with police after they left him with a smashed vehicle and medical bills.
Mogamat Rumiesh Fukeera, 43, says after the dramatic high-speed chase on 19 December with his nine-year-old son, he was left with multiple injuries and cops didn’t even apologise.
The crash resulted in officers being injured and led to the arrest of 14 suspects.
At the time, police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, said cops were chasing suspects from Simon’s Town.
“The chase ensued along the M5, however, it came to a halt when the police vehicle crashed into a barrier on the M5 and flipped over the bridge onto Raapenberg Road,” Van Wyk said.
“Members of Flying Squad pulled over the suspicious vehicle on the N1.
“They arrested 14 suspects, aged between 28 and 34, for charges related to reckless and negligent driving, possession of suspected stolen property and attempted murder.”
But Fukeera says cops omitted to say they hit him first: “It was just after 9pm and I was driving with my son from my friend’s house in Rondebosch.
“He was going to Mecca and we went to say goodbye. While driving home in the direction of Maitland, I just saw these five unmarked cars speeding through the cars.
“The M5 was so busy but they came speeding past me.”
The father says nothing prepared him for what he witnessed next.
“I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the van hit the barricade and came flying towards me. It hit me and then flung over the bridge but luckily I did not hit anyone.”
HURT: Nine-year-old son
Fukeera and his son were taken to Rondebosch Medical Centre and later transferred to Netcare N1 City hospital where he was treated for head, neck and back injuries.
“My son had a neck injury and was put in a brace. The day after the accident, he started vomiting and we had to rush back to the Emergency Room,” Fukeera explains.
“I was released the next day; the final cost of all the bills must still be completed but we must pay it because SAPS takes too long.
“We spent the whole holidays in an out of the hospital and even had to cancel our family road trip to Hermanus because my Honda Ballade is a write-off and I am still paying my car off.”
DRAMATIC: SAPS van had flipped during the M5 car chase
HIT: Mogamat’s Honda Ballade was smashed into on the M5
The angry father says since the accident, no detectives visited them to take their statements, so he went to Mowbray Police Station.
“Mowbray is handling the case because it happened in their area, but you know nobody from Rondebosch police who caused this accident even checked if we are alive or to say sorry and we can never get hold of the detective.”
Van Wyk said this week the crash is under investigation and he “cannot elaborate further on this matter”.