The Brooklyn police have nabbed a car guard after he allegedly impersonated a police officer.
Police spokesperson Captain Colette Weilbach said the arrest came after two 18-year-old male students were approached by an unknown man on University Road in Hatfield recently.
“The man was wearing a reflector jacket such as the ones informal car guards normally wear.
“The man introduced himself as a police officer after showing them an identification card and wanted to ‘know where the dagga was and tried to search one of the students’,” Weilbach said.
ALSO READ: Brooklyn police seek divine intervention
She said that on closer inspection of the identification card, the one student realised that it was only a firearm competency certificate.
“He called his friend away and they reported it to the security department of the University of Pretoria.”
The police was contacted and a 29-year-old suspect was subsequently arrested.
Weilbach said the man would appear in the Hatfield Community Court on Friday on a charge of impersonating a police officer.
According to the South African Police Service Act No. 68 of 1995, the following conduct is an offence:
– wearing and use of police uniforms by persons who are not members of the Service,
– hindering or obstructing members in the performance of their duties, and
– false representation by persons who are not members of the Service or who are not associated with the Service, e.g. persons pretending to be members of the police.
Weilbach said sometimes police officers work in civilian clothes and do not wear name tags.
“Community members can always ask police officers to identify themselves by showing their appointment certificates.”
A police appointment certificate is a laminated card with a picture of the police officer, the police badge, rank and service number, among other important information.
It is suspected that the car guard planned to rob the students.
Pedestrians are often robbed of their cellphones on the streets.
Cellphone users are advised to “put their heads up and cellphones down” while in public places.
ALSO READ: Brooklyn police taking services to students
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
