A driver was arrested after he allegedly knocked over a Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officer with his car on Eloff Street, Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba said on Monday.
The officer was admitted at Milpark Hospital with fractures to his right hand.
In a statement, Mashaba said that on Friday the driver tried to drive away when stopped by officers, evading a roadside check at the corner of Marlboro and Turffontein roads. He allegedly dragged an officer, who was hanging onto his car in order to get him to stop, for a short distance. The motorist then drove on but was cut off at Webber and Eloff streets where he was arrested.
“As I have said before, the attack on our JMPD officers is not only an attack on the government but an attack on our efforts to return the rule of law in our City. It is an attack on the people of our City, who are desperate to feel safe in their homes, communities and streets. For years, a culture of lawlessness was allowed to fester in our City and it falls to society, as a whole, to declare that 'enough is enough'," Mashaba said.
The driver appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrates Court on Monday, facing charges of attempted murder, reckless and negligent driving, as well as assault.
- African News Agency (ANA)
-picture: JPMD Twitter account
