Cops chase drunk foreigner
2008-12-10 21:35
Matsulu - A foreigner has been accused of speeding away from police while driving drunk on the N4 highway in Mpumalanga.
Neil Robert Butler, who lives and works in Swaziland, was arrested at about 13:00 on Monday when traffic officers eventually stopped him at a roadblock at the Nkomazi toll plaza near Malalane.
"Police had spotted a car with Swaziland registration plates veering across the road and causing havoc," said Matsulu police spokesperson Inspector Moses Shirinda on Wednesday.
When the driver failed to stop, police shot at a rear tyre, causing the car to slam into a police vehicle.
"But he did not stop until traffic officers at a roadblock near the Nkomazi toll plaza were able to stop him," said Shirinda.
He said Butler was arrested and taken to Rob Ferreira hospital for blood alcohol tests.
A breathalyser test allegedly read 0.39ml, which is above the legal limit of 0,05ml.
Butler was detained at the Malalane police station overnight and appeared briefly in the KaBokweni Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
He was not asked to plead to charges of reckless driving, drunk driving and malicious damage to state property.
He was released on R2 000 bail and told to appear again on March 9.