THERE was chaos on Spine Road in Khayelitsha on Friday, 16 December, after a drunk passenger resisted arrest by traffic cops.
The officers were attending an accident involving a Chevrolet and a Ford Ranger bakkie. The Chevrolet driver drove into the bakkie.
When the officers wanted to interview the drivers, the passenger who was in the Chevrolet became aggressive, accusing one of the officers of being drunk.
After disrupting the interview, officers wanted to arrest the man but he refused.
When the officers tried again to arrest him, he beat them up.
When the driver of the bakkie attempted to stop him, he moered him as well.
The man refused to be arrested, saying the officer who wanted to arrest him smelled of alcohol.
“I’m drunk, but I will not be arrested by a drunk officer,” he said.
Traffic cops spent over 20 minutes trying to arrest him as he ran along Spine Road with a rock in his hand, threatening to hit any officer who went closer to him.
The officers ended up calling for backup and the man was arrested.
According to City of Cape Town Traffic Services spokesman Kevin Jacobs, the officers were attending an accident at corner Lwandle Street and Spine Road when the incident happened.
Jacobs said: “A traffic officer responded to a request to assist a colleague who was at the scene of an accident at the corner of Lwandle and Spine Road on Friday, 16 December.
“Upon arrival, the traffic officer attempted to interview the two drivers, but a passenger from one of the vehicles interjected and hit the law enforcement officer. It is believed that the passenger also attacked the driver of the other vehicle.
“While the traffic officer tried to arrest the passenger, he too was punched in the face. The suspect was eventually taken into custody after officers on scene called for additional assistance,” he said.
Jacobs said a case of reckless and negligent driving was opened against one of the drivers involved in the collision.
The passenger who beat up cops was charged with assault.
