Policeman accused of attempting a hit and run

Spira Tlhankane | Thursday October 8, 2015 15:30

Phaleng, who is now recuperating at Princess Marina, said she was hit by an unnamed police officer, who then attempted to run away. She sustained serious body injuries and a broken leg.

Sharing her story with Mmegi, Phaleng said she was walking from home to the bus stop that morning. After crossing the road she found a man there and they started chatting about the lack of public transport during public holidays.

Few minutes later they waved to a combi but unfortunately the combi took the right turn.

“As I turned I saw a car within close range and I didn’t have time to run away and it hit me hard and I fell on a tuckshop nearby,” she recalled.

Phaleng said as she was trying to regain her composure, she saw bottles of beer being thrown out of the same car that had hit her.

Luckily, Phaleng said there were men nearby who saw the incident and they were able to identify the driver whom they identified as a Special Support Group (SSG) officer”.

According to Phaleng, after the driver saw that his identity was compromised, he stopped at the turn that leads to Roads Training Centre (RTC). She said when the car hit her, one of the mirrors fell on her thighs and a man got out of the car and picked it up. Phaleng said she lay there helplessly waiting for the ambulance but the driver did not even care to call for help.

Phaleng said when the ambulance and the police arrived afterwards, the attending officer only asked for her name and age. “That’s all he asked for and I saw him talking to the man whom I suspect to have been the driver,” she said.

To date, Phaleng said the Central Police Station (CPS) has not come to check her status. Phaleng feels they are not taking her seriously because she does not know the officer who caused the accident as well as the one who was attending to her case.

 “All I ask for is to see the man who caused this accident,” she said.  Assistant Superintendent Keoagile Tau of the CPS, initially denied having recorded the accident but during a follow up a day later, he admitted to Mmegi that there was an accident at Maruapula last Thursday.

“Right now investigations are on and we will wrap up everything in due course,” he said.

Tau said they are attending to Phaleng’s case just like they would do for anyone else. Tau said the police have not yet approached Phaleng yet because they (the police) did not want to compromise her recovery. He also confirmed that the driver was a police officer. Tau said they are yet to take Phaleng’s statement and the medical report.