Just a warning for Jaguar driver

2013-01-18 14:21

The wheel of the crashed Jaguar. (Beeld)

Johannesburg - The Jaguar XF driver who crashed into a house in Lyttelton this week has been given a written warning, Pretoria police said on Friday.

The man received the warning document on Wednesday, informing him about a malicious damage to property charge, the investigations into the incident, and his rights, Warrant Officer Annabelle Middelton said.

He was not taken into custody and no court date had been set for his appearance.

"[This] is not a schedule one offence, so there is no reason for him to be taken into custody. Remember there are certain crimes that you don't arrest a person [for]; you just give them the warning while investigations are continuing," said Middelton.

Once the investigations had been completed a court date might be set.

"And he is not running away from us [police]."

The Star on Tuesday reported that the driver, believed to be a government employee working in intelligence, fled the scene - leaving the car behind and a government employee ID tag with the name of LN Makamu.

An empty whisky bottle and several beer bottles were found in the car.

The car was apparently driven for about 12km with one tyre shredded to the rim.

State security ministry spokesperson Brian Dube said he was not aware of the incident or of anyone in the department driving a Jaguar, according to The Star. Police would not disclose the man's identity.

A resident of the house, Zee Pieterse, said the impact of the crash was so severe that it pushed two cars parked in front of the house into the garage wall.

- SAPA