Cape Town - 120601 - A suspect is lead away under arrest at the road block by Officer Deon Sampson - A roadblock was held by Provincial and City Traffic Officials on Modderdam road Southbound near the N2 (Bonteheuwel) on Friday night. In the first hour of the road block being set up 8 people were arrested for drunk driving (the lowest alcohol reading on the Drager was 0.38 almost twice the legal limit) The first people to be arrested was an off-duty police officer. The suspects were taken to the Bishop Lavis Police Station for processing. Also nabbed was a 17 year old taxi driver driving an unroadworthy taxi. The normal driver was too drunk to drive so they sent the 17 year old to drive the taxi. The taxi was impounded and the youth was taken to Bishop Lavis police station to wait for his parents before being charged. His parents were also allegedly too drunk to come to the scene. Photo: Matthew Jordaan Cape Town - 120601 - A suspect is lead away under arrest at the road block by Officer Deon Sampson - A roadblock was held by Provincial and City Traffic Officials on Modderdam road Southbound near the N2 (Bonteheuwel) on Friday night. In the first hour of the road block being set up 8 people were arrested for drunk driving (the lowest alcohol reading on the Drager was 0.38 almost twice the legal limit) The first people to be arrested was an off-duty police officer. The suspects were taken to the Bishop Lavis Police Station for processing. Also nabbed was a 17 year old taxi driver driving an unroadworthy taxi. The normal driver was too drunk to drive so they sent the 17 year old to drive the taxi. The taxi was impounded and the youth was taken to Bishop Lavis police station to wait for his parents before being charged. His parents were also allegedly too drunk to come to the scene. Photo: Matthew Jordaan
Aly Verbaan
SPEEDING through the streets of Cape Town at 3am at speeds in excess of 180km/h is most certainly a crime.
Unless you are in an emergency response vehicle with the head of the fire department and paramedics, and you have Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith sitting behind you.
The Cape Times joined Philip Prak, 46, a paramedic and senior firefighter based at the Goodwood Fire Station, and Smith, 44, for a Friday night ride-along last week in an emergency response vehicle – a Chevy Cruze 1.8L with a low centre of gravity – to attend to medical emergencies and perform what is a routine city check on a Friday night for Smith.
He said he takes part in these drive-alongs so that he can keep tabs on how many incidents are alcohol-related, and to examine the facilities of the stations and hospitals.
Smith had a work function from 7pm to 10pm, so the evening kicked off at 10pm with a cardiac arrest in Brackenfell. It took seven minutes to get there.
We helped other paramedics assess the situation, then loaded the elderly patient into a Metro ambulance and sent him on his way. Next we high-tailed it to Hout Bay in 22 minutes to assist a child with a high fever. Talk about an adrenalin rush.
By 2am, the streets were fairly quiet and there wasn’t quite as much need to use the lights and sirens, but then there was a call from Khayelitsha Metro Police that a man had been stabbed in his back six times for his cellphone.
While the paramedics saw to the victim, Smith inspected the police station and took note of equipment and upgrade requirements.
We cruised the streets of some very dangerous suburbs, then headed back to the fire station.
The Cape Times will be repeating the excursion on Friday night and, being month-end, it is expected to be a long and busy one.
