Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo|A police vehicle was involved in a horrific crash over the Easter holiday as the cops chased a fleeing taxi driver who refused to pay a bribe.
The incident happened near Wimpy Takeway outside the ancient city of Masvingo when police details manning a roadblock near the Craft Centre in the city stopped a taxi driver and allegedly asked for a bribe. Sources claimed during the ensuing melee the taxi driver fled from the scene, prompting the cops to pursue him at high speed.
The taxi driver then made a sudden U-turn and the police BMW vehicle crashed into a narrow stream near Wimpy takeaway. All the cops in the vehicle escaped with minor injuries while the taxi driver later stopped his motor vehicle to investigate what had transpired.
Acting Masvingo Police Spokesperson Kudakwashe Dehwa was not readily available for a comment while cops in the traffic section professed ignorance of the matter despite the publication of the pictures of the horrific crash in a local weekly paper.
Vendors at the craft centre said the scuffle started when the police asked for a kickback from the taxi driver. “We saw everything because such kind of things happen on a regular basis. The police demanded a bribe from the popular taxi driver but he fled from the Craft Centre and they gave chase,” said a vendor based at the Craft Centre,the busiest intersection in the city.
Members of the public blame overzealous police details for causing mishaps through mounting unnecessary roadblocks, ignoring other crimes nagging the society.