UPDATE: Police say misconduct video is misunderstanding
DOUGLASDALE - After a video of a resident allegedly being turned away from reporting a case of police misconduct was posted online, Douglasdale police has said the incident was just a misunderstanding.
Restaurant owner Pedro Ramos posted the video to LiveLeak.com after two police officers refused to deal with a couple who could not pay their drinks bill. One of the officers also refused to give Ramos his name. Ramos went to the Douglasdale Police Station to open a case of misconduct against the officers, but was met with resistance from a captain at the station.
According to Warrant Officer Balan Muthan, head of communications for the Douglasdale police, the customers had actually paid for a R200 voucher when they entered the restaurant. Ramos said his establishment charged a consumable entrance of R100 per head, meaning customers received a printed voucher to use when they paid their bill. The customers ordered a bottle of sparkling wine to the value of R175 but when the time came to pay they could not find their voucher. Ramos said this was a serious problem because the waiter would be shortchanged when it came time to cash up.
Muthan said when the police officers were called in by Ramos, they believed that no crime had been committed since the customers had allegedly paid more than the amount on their bill when they entered the establishment, but did not have proof of this. Muthan said both officers claimed that they did give their details to Ramos. However, Ramos refuted this. “Only one officer gave his details, the other refused to even tell me his name,” he said.
According to Muthan, Ramos could not have opened a criminal case as this was a civil matter and he also did not have grounds to open a case of police misconduct. “The restaurant owner’s approach was totally incorrect,” he said.
Ramos said he had owned restaurants for the past five years and had encountered similar situations, yet this was the first time the police refused to open a case.
He added that the captain depicted in the video could easily have diffused the situation by sitting down with him and the two officers to get all the facts.
Read our previous stories,
UPDATE: Resident speaks out about alleged misconduct incident
UPDATE: CPF questions motives of police video author
VIDEO: Police officer allegedly refuses to open misconduct case
