Cop in dwang over dog poo
2008-03-26 23:43
Cape Town - A Sea Point woman claims she was assaulted, arrested and berated as a "dirty, white bitch" after her dog relieved itself in the street.
Deirdre O'Neill also said she initially had been denied medical help.
She had serious injuries after her face allegedly was slammed into a wall while she was being held in a headlock.
O'Neill has laid a charge of assault against the officer concerned.
According to O'Neill's daughter, Tanitha Jolly, her mother had gone for a walk with Tanitha's six-month-old Jack Russell, Dogmatix, on Tuesday morning.
"My mother always takes a packet along to pick up the dog poo, but when the dog relieved itself a second time she didn't have another packet with her."
According to Tanitha, a screaming metro police officer made a beeline for her mother.
"She didn't know what was going on and thought someone was pulling her leg."
The officer allegedly shouted at her and O'Neill told him that her friend lived nearby and that she could go and fetch another packet from her to pick up the dog's faeces.
Called her 'dirty, white bitch'
"But the police officer didn't want to listen to reason."
"When O'Neill asked the officer to identify himself, he apparently shouted at her: "I'll show you identification, you dirty, white bitch."
O'Neill then tried to run away to a nearby school, but the officer allegedly grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground.
"He shouted at her and handcuffed her."
"Then he got her into a headlock and rammed her head into a wall. He also swore at her."
Tanitha said a stranger had tried to help her mother, but that the officer yelled at him and told him to go away.
O'Neill was then taken to the Sea Point police station and locked in a cell.
The metro officer apparently initially denied her medical attention.
Only after the superintendent interfered, was she taken to Somerset Hospital.
"She sat there for six hours and nobody wanted to help her.
"The boss of the officer who assaulted her also arrived at the hospital and said he didn't know what all the fuss was about, because it was just a few scrapes."
O'Neill asked to see her GP, but the officer apparently told her that she wasn't going anywhere.
Case thrown out
"They said she refused medical treatment and then read her her rights and threw her into the cell.
"She was covered in blood and burst into tears."
O'Neill was charged with disorderly conduct and impeding an officer in carrying out his official duties.
She had to appear in Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Wednesday morning, but the case was thrown out.
Tanitha said: "We are going to take this thing as far as possible," regarding the charge her mother had laid.