A slap in the face

2003-06-05 21:08

Dirk Kok

Bethlehem - A woman who apparently tried to speed away from traffic officers and had to be forced from the road, allegedly attacked one of the officers, sending his shirt buttons flying while slapping and swearing at him.

The woman, an administrative worker at a welding firm in the town, was given a traffic fine and might face criminal prosecution. Police confirmed on Thursday that charges of assault, crimen injuria, reckless driving and refusing to obey a traffic officer were being investigated.

The woman allegedly assaulted and insulted Marius Marx, a municipal traffic officer, when he asked her not to park on a yellow line at the post office. She apparently ignored him at first and then sped away, grazing him with her car, when he wanted to fine her. When she was forced from the road, she allegedly attacked Marx.

Marx said he and a colleague, Fanie Mostert, saw the woman park on the yellow line on Wednesday afternoon. Then the drama started.

"I asked her to remove her vehicle. She refused and said she was first collecting her mail. When she came back, I wanted to fine her. She swore and screamed at me and said I did not know her, but would see who she was later.

"Then she got into her car and pulled away. I wanted to stop her and her car hit me against my leg. We followed her and indicated that she should pull over. She then showed us an "up yours" with the index and middle fingers.

"Fanie forced her from the road in President Boshoff Street. It seemed as if she was going to pull away again. She grabbed me by my jacket, yanked me around and slapped me through the face. My shirt's buttons were pulled off. She insulted me again."

The woman and the two traffic officers then went to the traffic office where she was fined R300 in the presence of traffic chief, Chris Crause, for parking on a yellow line and another R300 for speeding away.

Marx said the incident was a slap in the face, literally and figuratively. "I was slapped while in uniform and could not defend myself because it was a woman."

- Volksblad