Gregory Kleinhentz, who was charged with common assault and malicious damage to property, told of his joy and lessons learnt after the State dropped its charges against him at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on 26 November.
He was facing charges for allegedly assaulting a fellow motorist and damaging his vehicle during a road rage incident on Witkoppen Road, Fourways, on 26 July (see previous article).
The state dropped the charges because it had reached a settlement with the defence, said Kleinhentz’s lawyer, Karl Schüler of Schüler Heerschop Pienaar Attorneys.
He would not divulge what kind of settlement had been agreed upon. “I am glad that it is over but I have learnt a lesson,” Kleinhentz said at the court in Kensington B.
“I feel sorry for the incident and learnt not not do something like that again.” He added that the moral of the story is to stay in your vehicle when you feel angry at another motorist. The road rage incident began when a driver of a Volkswagen Polo drove closer to a Porsche, in which Kleinhentz was a passenger, allegedly to see what model of Porsche it was, as the driver was driving wildly.
Kleinhentz then allegedly threw a can at the Volkswagen. The Volkswagen driver responded by hooting and showing him the middle finger. When the two vehicles stopped at a red traffic light, a motorist behind them took a video of what proceeded. The video went viral on the internet.
The video showed Kleinhentz kicking the Volkswagen’s side mirror until the driver wound down his window. Kleinhentz then reached both hands into the Volkswagen, and allegedly punched the driver. After a while he pulled an object out of the Polo and threw it away, allegedly the car keys.
Details: Randburg Magistrates’ Court 011 998 5300.
