Traffic cop knocked down at a roadblock

A 39-year-old man appeared in court last Thursday for allegedly knocking down a traffic policeman at a roadblock in Highfield.

Lloyd Chirombo appeared before Mbare magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma charged with negligent driving.Ms Tshuma remanded Chirombo in custody to April 16.

Prosecutor Ms Miriam Chiba said Chirombo was not a proper candidate for bail because he was likely to abscond as it took the police two weeks to apprehend him.

"Chirombo is not fit to be granted bail because he was on the run and our fear is that if he is remanded out of custody he might not come to court. More so, he committed a very serious offence considering that he knocked down a police officer who was clad in his uniform and was on duty," she said.

Chirombo told the court that he was denying the allegations on the basis that he was not the one who was driving the motor vehicle on the day in question.

"I was off duty on the day in question. I was not running away from the police because I did not even know that the police were after me," he said.

Allegations are that on March 22 this year at a roadblock in Highfield, Chirombo was driving a commuter omnibus.

The court heard that he knocked down a police officer in uniform who was carrying out traffic duties but he did not stop.

The cop sustained serious body  injuries.