After almost two years since the death of the beloved Nelspruit Hawks officer, Warrant Officer Gerrie le Grange, a local man is expected to appear in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s court on charges of culpable homicide on September 21.
Nelspruit Police Station’s spokesperson, Captain Zandile Gqawa, said the man was issued with a summons. He cannot be named until he has appeared.
Le Grange had been rushing along Samora Machel Drive near Man Truck and Bus Nelspruit at 17:00 on September 23, 2021, on his way to a crime scene near the KMI Airport.
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His Golf GTI was involved in a collision with a Ford Ranger. He was rushed to Mediclinic Nelspruit, however, at 05:30 the next day, just over 12 hours after the accident, he was pronounced dead due to complications following the crash. He died just two weeks before his 48th birthday.
His widow, Jackie, told Lowvelder that he had had such an impact on so many people’s lives. “No one will ever be able to fill those size 11 boots of his.”
His colleagues said although Le Grange had been a gentle giant who was always smiling, he was like a pit bull when it came to criminals. He had been a police officer for over two decades and had only been with the Hawks for 18 months at the time of his death.
