By Bongani Mdakane
A specialized crime unit police officer stationed at Sophiatown police station, made the owner of Mario’s Pick n Pay, Douglas Cassell in Reiger Park, Boksburg in Ekurhuleni, his punching bag on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday night the Constable had decided to take law into his own hands and assaulted the owner of the well-known grocery shop after he was barred from viewing footage from the CCTV cameras of the popular shopping outlet in Reiger Park.
Trouble started when the three-year-old son of the policeman had disappeared on Friday, only to be found at Mario’s Pick n Pay, where he was being kept safe.
Sunday World has seen the footage of the incident where the officer had approached Cassell and started beating him up in full view of other cops.
Speaking Sunday World, the wife of Cassell, Elvina Koopman, who manages the shop said one of their staff noticed the child walking around the store.
“We asked customers if the child was with them but unfortunately nobody knew the child. It’s when she realised the child was lost. We posted on the community Facebook page about the child but nobody responded, however, one customer stated that he knew the family of the toddler. We informed the grandfather of the boy that he was safe. The child’s parents viewed the footage on Sunday,” said Koopman.
A family spokesperson for the policeman, Michaela le Roux, said the child went missing at midday on Friday while his father was busy washing cars. After realizing that the child was missing a search ensued from the community.
“The father went to the store and asked to view the footage but the owner of the shop refused. He went to the police but his colleagues failed to help him. We are disappointed that Douglas released the footage of his assault but he failed to provide the other footage which the father of the child had requested. I don’t condone what he had done but as a father, he went there to seek answers. He was stressed,” added Le Roux.
The policeman will be appearing at Boksburg Magistrate Courts today facing charges of assault.
Provincial police spokesperson, Captain Mavela Masondo said SAPS would not be commenting on the case since the matter is now with Ipid.
Ipid spokesperson Ndileka Cola never responded to our calls.
See the footage here:
