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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Woman to hit back after 'night of hell' |
| 2007-07-31 |
| By Leila Samodien A Table View woman plans to lay charges against three police officers who she says arrested, threatened and abused her before driving her to a Cape Flats police station "just to scare" her. Carol-Anne Porter, 62, a grandmother and bank employee, said she was unfairly stopped and arrested for drunk-driving as she and a friend drove home from a restaurant at the West Beach shopping centre on Friday night. She claimed that even though she was charged at the Table View police station, police officers drove her all the way to the Bonteheuwel police station for a breathalyser test. "They kept saying, 'Now we're going to show you white people what it's really like in the ganglands'," she said. Porter said she and her friend Sari Curiger had gone out for dinner, sharing one bottle of white wine for the evening. They left the shopping complex at about 11pm, taking the West Coast Road to drive the short distance to her home. But before she could turn into her street, she was pulled over by a police van that was unmarked, except for blue lights on its roof, she said. A traumatised Porter, who sobbed uncontrollably as she recounted her ordeal, said they were approached by the occupants of the van, two men and a woman, all dressed in plainclothes. Something is missign from that description, I have that nudging feeling... They screamed at me and asked me for my driver's licence. When I said my bag was stolen a month ago and I had not yet received my new licence, they pulled me out of my car, pushed me against the police van and slammed on handcuffs," she said. Porter said an officer called for back-up and minutes later, a marked police van with uniformed officers arrived and she was "shoved" into the back and driven "recklessly" to Tableview police station. "I have bruises on my arms from where they grabbed me, and on my wrists from the handcuffs," said Porter. They sped off leaving Curiger behind, but when Curiger insisted on being taken to the police station to ensure her friend's safety, one of the three officers drove Curiger there in Porter's Citi Golf . Curiger said she stayed with Porter until the early hours of Saturday but was denied the opportunity to bail her out and her daughter came to fetch her about 2am. Porter said that, just 15 minutes after Curiger left, she was again thrown into a police van by the same three officers and taken to Bonteheuwel police station for a breathalyser test. Porter was returned to a Table View holding cell. Although her boyfriend paid her bail at 7am, she was only released at 9am on Saturday. She claims she was sworn and shouted at throughout her ordeal, for which she is now receiving counselling. Police spokesperson Captain Randall Stoffels confirmed the arrest. ""We request that she come to the station commissioner to make a complaint," he said. Porter said she was due to appear in the Cape Town's magistrate's court on Monday and that she and her lawyer would then decide what action to take. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #4 tt8048 I agree. Lot's of interesting stuff from africancrisis.com |
| Posted by: Xenophon 2007-07-31 23:48 |
| #3 Ya know, unmarked van, plain-clothes cops... I'd (politely) request that uniformed officers be called to the scene. Hell, with a cellphone I'd dial 911 (or the local equivalent). Better to be apologetic about wasting their time than quietly disappear when someone pulls a classic predator trick. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-07-31 21:10 |
| #2 re #1 Moose, I think you might want to verify the evidence on this one before you dismiss it. I've been hearing some "interesting" things w/r to SA lately. |
| Posted by: Throger Thains8048 2007-07-31 17:22 |
| #1 (translated) Drunk woman gets pulled over with half a dozen reasons for the cops to bring her in. She decides to use the race card and play victim. "They screamed at me and asked me for my driver's licence." Which they probably followed up by screaming at her to see her proof of registration and insurance. And they then screamed "Please". It was kind of like a screaming barbershop quartet: "MAY WE SEE YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE?" Then they probably screamed at her to walk a straight line, screaming at her to extend her arms out to her sides, close her eyes then touch her nose with her right index finger. The finally, they screamed at her to recite the alphabet, backwards. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-07-31 17:06 |