Polokwane: Parked vehicle leads to cop outburst
Police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo says as long as no case was opened by the victim no arrest will be made.
POLOKWANE – Although videos of a police officer attached to the Polokwane police station threatening and swearing at a civilian have surfaced on social media after an incident in Ladanna, police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo says as long as no case was opened by the victim no arrest will be made.
According to eyewitness Chris Gray, one of his clients brought in a vehicle for repairs and parked it on the side of the road. Due to space constraints the vehicle was partly parked in the road.
He says an ununiformed police officer driving a van marked from the Polokwane Police Station approached and demanded that the car be moved as it was obstructing traffic.
“The car needed repairs and had to be towed in for us to repair it, which is why when the police officer asked that it be moved we tried to explain the situation, but he would have nothing of it. He then tried to arrest the driver of the vehicle without considering the circumstances of the matter at hand.”
Gray says that he, along with a few other passersby came to the defence of the driver of the vehicle but that only seemed to anger the police official even more, upon which he manhandled the driver of the vehicle and forced him into the back of the van.
“That was when I started taking a video of him in order to have actual proof of how he was handling the situation and dealing with my client.
“I strongly believe that it was because of the video that he decided to let the man go because he realised the arrest would cause more trouble for him as he was doing it unlawfully.”
In the footage the police officer can be seen and heard insulting the victim and threatening the person who was taking the video while trying to grab the phone.
Mojapelo confirmed the incident but said according to their information, the vehicle was parked behind a police van.
“The police were seemingly talking to the motorist who blocked the police car unintentionally when a certain man emerged from nowhere and started recording the incident. The officer then tried to block or stop him. No case was opened,” he concluded.
