A resident of Endicott had to have an operation to fix his broken nose after two young men, for no apparent reason, assaulted him.
Now Benjamin Michel, who lives and works in Endicott, feels the police are doing nothing to make his assailants pay for their deeds.
The police, on the other hand say the two men already appeared in court in relation to this incident and the case was postponed until December 15.
Captain Johannes Ramphora, spokesman of the Springs SAPS says the suspects in this case were arrested, their statements taken and had already appeared in court.
Ramphora says police procedure prescribes that because the two men were suspects in a case of common assault, they could be released before their next court appearance.
They will appear in court again on December 15.
Michel still remembers the evening of November 14 when he and his 11-year-old son, Alex went to ride their bicycles in their neighbourhood.
He stopped on their way back home on the corner of Pearl and Melman roads because his son fell behind on the uphill.
“While waiting, at approximately 6.20pm, a Jumbo Golf came down Pearl Road at high speed towards the intersection.
“It drifted sideways around the corner, crossing onto the grass, almost hitting me.”
He shouted “slow down, my son is behind you”, at them.
He says the car stopped and started reversing towards him.
“Fearing that my son might not understand the situation, I dropped my bicycle and ran towards the car,” says Michel.
The passenger got out of the car and started punching him in the face.
“I staggered back, grabbing my pepper spray from my belt and directed a stream of liquid into his eyes.
“He continued to punch me on the head and held me around the throat with his arm from behind while the driver continued to hit me on the head and in the face,” says Michel.
The attack stopped when passers-by came to Michel’s rescue.
Michel’s nose was broken in the attack.
He also had injuries to his right arm as a result of shielding his face with his arms.
Upon arriving at home to drop off their bicycles, the Springs police arrived in his driveway.
They were alerted by police officers who passed by Michel shortly after the two assailants fled.
To get medical attention and to get the police’s prescribed medical form completed, he was sent to the Far East Rand Hospital.
He received the form back only the next morning, to hand to the police.
He says he noticed a while after the attack that something was wrong with his nose and his doctor confirmed it was broken.
Two weeks after the incident he had to undergo a nose reconstruction operation.
