A taxi driver has been arrested after a City of Cape Town traffic officer was killed on Friday night [August 7] in a gruesome hit-and-run accident.
In a statement, mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said the City was shocked and saddened by the loss of one of their traffic officers, Deon Sampson (46), who died after being run over and dragged along by a taxi during a roadblock in Khayelitsha.
“Officer Sampson was part of an integrated operation with SAPS, and while checking the license disc on a taxi waiting in the queue at approximately 9.45pm, the driver accelerated, ran him over and dragged him along the road for nearly 200 metres before the body dislodged,” Smith explains.
“The rest of the officers on scene chased after the vehicle, but the driver refused to stop. They had to discharge several rounds at the vehicle, before the driver was eventually apprehended off Oscar Mpetha Drive. It is alleged that he was under the influence of alcohol.”
Smith says the driver’s actions are inexcusable, and what happened to Sampson is “horrific”. He calls on SAPS to expedite the investigation.
Sampson is survived by his spouse and three children.
“The City extends its condolences to Officer Sampson’s spouse and his three children, and his extended family, as well as his colleagues in the Traffic Service.It cuts deep when we lose one of our own, but even more when the circumstances are as incomprehensible as what transpired last night,” said Smith.
The City will provide support and counselling to the family, as well as members of the Traffic Service.
The suspect will appear in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, August 11.
This incident follows just a few hours after a female traffic officer in George was seriously injured after she was disarmed and allegedly shot with her service pistol on August 7. The suspect who is in his early thirties was apprehended within an hour after the incident happened after fleeing on foot, according to SAPS.
Picture: Twitter