A STREET vendor threatened to kill a Metro officer who asked him to move his illegally parked vehicle.
According to police spokesperson Warrant Officer Moses Maphakela, the officer patrolling Alexandra saw a vehicle loaded with fruit and vegetables illegally parked . He approached the driver of the car and asked him to move the vehicle as there was no parking permitted on that spot.
As the officer was talking to the driver, another man came to the scene and ordered the officer to go to the police if he had a problem. The officer tried to reason with the man and told him that it was a no parking zone.
The man got angry and allegedly started swearing at the officer and said he would meet him after work and they could sort the problem out between the two of them.
“I will see you after work and I will kill you,” the man is alleged to have shouted at the cop.
The officer then tried to arrest the man who ran away. The officer gave chase and tried to arrest the man a few blocks away. A struggle ensued as the officer tried to handcuff him.
The man broke free and grabbed a bundle of beer cans lying next to him and threw them at the officer. The Metro cop didn’t give up and finally overpowered the man and handcuffed him. He then took him to the Alexandra Police Station where he was detained.
Maphakela said they questioned the man and established that he was a 22-year-old illegal immigrant from Mozambique.
He said the suspect would appear in the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court on charges of common assault and trying to defeat the ends of justice.
