Africa-Press – South-Africa. Cape Town police are investigating two incidents in which officers came under attack and people suspected of crime evaded arrest.
In the first incident on Thursday, according to police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg, around 40 members of a taxi association stormed into a room at the Philippi East police station and overpowered traffic officials who were processing the arrest of two men, allegedly for using fraudulent documents.
City of Cape Town traffic officers arrested one of the two men – the driver of a Toyota Avanza taxi – for producing false documentation on Thursday, mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said.
Smith added: “The suspect was taken to Philippi East police station. When the vehicle owner arrived at the police station, he admitted that the licence plate and disc were from one of his other vehicles and he too was arrested for allowing the driver to operate the vehicle with the fraudulent documents.”
While officers were busy processing their arrests, a group of about 40 taxi drivers and owners stormed into the police station and demanded that both men be set free immediately.
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“When the group saw that their demands will not be met, they violently grabbed the suspects in the room and in the scuffle, pushed a traffic officer against one of the tables. Fortunately, two detectives who were in the room intervened and prevented them from assaulting the officer,” Smith said.
The group of people managed to free the men.
Officers are investigating the incident and the men are yet to be arrested.
The second incident occurred on Friday when Metro Police officers “came under attack” in Ottery while trying to arrest a man for the alleged possession of drugs, Twigg said.
“He managed to evade arrest when the members were attacked by the community,” Twigg added.
Police dispersed the crowd and no injuries were reported.
Smith added: “It’s a sad day when we have people coming to the aid of suspects in the manner that we witnessed in these incidents. Communities should not allow a few perpetrators who attack enforcement staff to empower criminals in their neighbourhoods.”
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