Three police officers were allegedly assaulted by a commuter omnibus driver after they tried to arrest him for dropping passengers at an undesignated area.
Emmanuel Ncube of Khami Prison area on Wednesday appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Charity Maphosa accused of assaulting or resisting a peace officer.
Prosecutor Danmore Kasenza said on March 6 at 9am, a police officer Simbarashe Chifamba who was accompanied by two constables – only identified as Maweni and Mathobela – was on patrol in the city centre.
The three spotted Ncube dropping passengers along Herbert Chitepo Street and immediately jumped into his vehicle.
Ncube saw the police officers in the car and sped off, injuring a passenger Qondani Khumalo who was alighting.
He drove for 50m before stopping and assaulting Chifamba. The police officers managed to subdue Ncube and arrested him.
However, Ncube denied the charges saying he never assaulted the police officers and when they got into the vehicle he did not know that they were law enforcement agents.
Kasenza insisted that Ncube assaulted the cops after they had indicated they wanted to arrest him for breaking traffic laws.
The driver’s father, Shadreck Ncube, told the court that he was in the kombi when the alleged assault happened and maintained that his son was innocent.
He said he only saw someone boarding the kombi and sitting next to the driver before the commotion started. Kasenza accused Shadreck of trying to protect his son, an accusation the witness denied. Ncube asked the magistrate to allow him time to bring more witnesses to testify on the next trial date. Maphosa remanded Ncube out of custody to April 7. -southern eye