Hi, I was the one who called the cops after I saw this guy setting up home at the abandoned diary at 81 Lower Wrensch Road, Observatory. He was putting a piece of wood against the fence to try to barricade himself in and when I stopped and asked him what he was doing he told me he was "securing" the place.
When the police arrived he was back on the street and they searched him. They found a plastic milk bottle in his jacket containing a congealed substance - not sure what it was, glue perhaps? Anyway they gave everything back to him except the bottle. That's when he became aggressive. He lunged at the female officer to try to get it back. At that point the male officer grabbed him, punched him and he fell to the ground. I think given the circumstances the amount of force the officer used was justified. I certainly wouldn't say he beat the guy up. But I do think this vagrant should have been taken away - instead he was just given a stern warning to stay away from the property. At this point I decided to leave and circled the block a few times and saw him making his way up Lower Wrensch towards a group of other vagrants standing further up the road with a couple of trolleys who probably also regard the dairy as their home. The property is a constant problem. From what I can gather this guy has been living there for some time. Before phoning the police I contacted the owner of the property, Mr Andrews, but he said he didn't have time to come out but would look into the matter today, which I don't think is an acceptable attitude. The police arrived but did not stop and drove up Lower Wrensch - they obviously didn't know where the place was even though I'd given them quite detailed instructions over the phone. I then had to follow them in my car to stop them and bring them back. When I chatted to Inspector Nel in the past he told me that the police do inspections of the dairy on a regular basis - would it not be possible for them to stage a major raid and get the people who are inhabiting the place out of there for once and for all? The white corsa actually belongs to my partner so the threats this guy is making to damage the car in retaliation are a bit of a worry for us. Nothing was done to the car last night but we won't be taking any chances and will be parking it somewhere else for a while. This situation makes me very angry. The dairy is not only an eyesore but poses a real threat to the health and security of the area's residents - and yet officials keep on turning a blind to it. I've complained countless times to our ward counsellor, the police, the health department, the building inspector and yet nothing ever changes. I am CCing them all in on this email - including the mayor. She's the one person I would hope would be able to do something about this but sadly I've tried getting in touch with her before but all my complaints get redirected to our ward counsellor and various officials so I don't think Helen Zille is aware of the problem . But who knows, maybe this time this email will get through. Jane Vorster ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lola Sent: 28 November 2008 08:50 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [obsnw] cops beat up vagrant - NO JUDGEMENT Please be advised that I was not making any judgements. I came upon the scene and have no idea if the vagrant had provoked the police officers in any way. I was a bit concerned that they did not remove him from the area and left me alone in the street with him, by which time he was very angry and aggressive. I posted it on this site as an alert in terms of the threats he had made. That's all. I am a big fan of the police and have a lot of respect and sympathy for them. Hope this clarifies things. On Thu, Nov 27, 2008 at 7:27 PM, Mel Hoffman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I think inspector Nel reads this board. - any comments? On Nov 27, 6:36 pm, Lola <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > yes, they punched, kicked and threw him around > > On 11/27/08, Mel Hoffman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > What do you mean cops beat up vagrant? > > Did you see that? > > > On Nov 27, 5:44 pm, Lola <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > cops just beat up vagrant who has set up camp in old dairy and was caught > > > climbing over fence - 17h30, thurs 27 november, cnr willow & lwr wrensch. > > > cops then departed, saying van was full, else they'd take him. left me > > > alone in street with him. he was very angry and said we must wait to see > > > what he does tonight in obs. said he is not scared of tronk. pointed to > > > white corsa parked cnr lwr wrensch & low and said he will break into it. > > > wonder if he is man of his word. > > > rgds > > > Lola- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - ____________________________________________________________________________ This email and its contents are subject to an email legal notice that can be viewed at: http://www.naspers.com/email/disclaimer.html. 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