G4S patrolman assists alleged drunken driver to leave the scene
An armed response officer of G4S Securicor allegedly assisted a suspected drunk driver to make his escape from a vehicle accident scene in Walvis Bay’s Sam Nujoma Avenue on Saturday morning.
A white BMW slammed into two lamp posts at around 04:30 on Saturday, on the intersection of Sam Nujoma Avenue and 8th Road. Residents of the area were shaken from their sleep as the vehicle, seemingly at high speed, veered off the road onto the pavement and then took out the lamp posts in succession.
Residents emerged from their homes and were greeted by a scene of utter destruction. Accident debris were sown over an area more than one hundred meters long and the destroyed lamp posts were laying in the roadway. A taxi driver only minutes after the accident failed to spot the damaged lamp post laying in the motorway and drove over it.
One of the residents who emerged from his home seconds after the accident witnessed a male getting out of the passenger seat of the BMW. He walked around to the driver window and knocked at the window to wake the driver, who sat slumped over.
When he managed to wake the driver, also a male, they switched seats. Soon, the scene was filling with residents as they got out of their homes to inquire what was happening.
The two persons were confronted by the resident who witnessed them swopping seats. Despite several calls to the Namibian Police and promises they would dispatch to the scene soon, the first police vehicle only arrived well after six o’clock. The duo maintained the one who was seen in behind the steering wheel, was the passenger.
By that time, a patrol vehicle of G4S Securicor arrived at the scene. The security official was alone and only stood at the scene for a few minutes before the two men were starting to walk to the patrol vehicle. At the patrol vehicle, the actual driver got into the passenger scene and the G4S patrol car departed the scene.
The “driver” maintained his story, but when his family members arrived at the scene he started to cry and admitted although he is the owner of the BMW, the man who now left the scene was the driver. He admitted they were consuming alcohol and were visitors from Windhoek who attended as guests a matric farewell.
When a police officer arrived at the scene after six o’clock he was informed about the events. The security officer at the time returned alone and he was confronted by the policeman. Minutes later both the police officer in his police vehicle and the G4S patrol vehicle left the scene and were going to search for the absconding driver.
They returned after 07:00 and the policeman then indicated a tow-in service can take the damaged BMW away and the passenger-cum-driver-cum-passenger was taken to the police station.
∙In the meantime the regional operations manager in Erongo of G4S Secure Solutions, Mr. Johan Kotzé, confirmed the incident and said the security official is currently the subject of a criminal investigation relating to the incident.
“G4S has processes and policies in place. This official is well aware of these policies and procedures. He also has a driving license and knows what he can and cannot do at the scene of an accident. He must face the music and do so without our support, as he knew of better”.
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