Johannesburg An Ekurhuleni metro police officer is being investigated after he slapped a cellphone out of a motorist's hand on the Edenvale onramp, on the East Rand, on Wednesday.
Motorist Diederick Stopforth's cellphone was slapped out of his hand and the officer proceeded to driveoff with his driver's licence.
The incident took place at around 07:50 on Wednesday morning.
Stopforth and his girlfriend were driving on the Edenvale onramp in the direction of the OR Tambo International Airport.
"There were several cars blocking the intersection, and a whole bunch of us had to drive around a truck," he said.
This is when an Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) officer pulled them over.
"He kind of stuck half of his body in my window and wanted to know why I drove around the truck."
Foul language
Stopforth said he told the officer that he didn't want to cause an obstruction and was well within his rights. However, the officer walked around his vehicle, checked to see if he had any outstanding fines and checked the registration number.
According to Stopforth, the officer used foul language, which is why his girlfriend recorded the incident.
"He told us we were being clever, then grabbed my licence and walked away. He didn't write me a ticket; he just walked off with my licence."
"I got out of my vehicle and followed him, switched on my phone and at this stage I realised that he had no identification, no name, rank or anything to identify him as an officer of the law."
When he asked the officer for his name, he slapped Stopforth's phone out of his hand.
He said when his girlfriend did the same; her phone was also slapped out of her hands, adding that it suffered a bit more damage than his.
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