A tow truck driver’s chase to get to the scene of an accident, got violent when he crashed into another motorist and an altercation ensued between them.
The incident happened on Thursday, January 11, at approximately 16:45 at the corner of Chace Drive and Ditchling Street, Young Park.
An eye-witness, who prefers to remain anonymous, told PE Express that the altercation was a result of an argument between the motorist and a Scorpion Tow Truck Services staff member. “The tow truck driver was responding to a call in the area, but at some point he reversed his vehicle into another driver’s vehicle. The gentleman then got out of his car and tried to exchange numbers with the tow truck driver, but the tow truck driver got upset,” the witness said.
“The Scorpion guy was significantly younger than the gentleman in the other car. He started using vulgar language, and started to attack the older man. Other witnesses tried to stop him, but he got even more violent. He attacked that man very badly,” the witness continued.
In video footage sent to the PE Express by a bystander, it can be seen how the tow truck driver, dressed in a Scorpion Tow Truck Services branded shirt, hits the motorist, who is lying on his back on the verge of the road. He hits him twice in the face with a flat hand while he holds him down with his other hand by grabbing at the shirt at his neck.
The motorist tries to grab the tow-truck driver’s arm, but struggles to defend himself and can only get out the words in Afrikaans, “Nee man”. The tow-truck driver shouts at him in Afrikaans “stop nou met jou (vulgar language)! Hoor jy my. Hoor jy my?”
He then leaves the man on the ground and the man struggles to get up. In the video one can see a Scorpion branded tow truck parked next to the scene of the incident.
PE Express is not showing the video as it is not for sensitive viewers.
After multiple attempts by PE Express to get hold of Scorpion Tow Truck Services, a woman who mentioned the company’s name when answering the phone, said, “we don’t want any of this in the newspaper, no comment,” before dropping the call.
Colonel Priscilla Naidu of SAPS said a case of assault is under investigation by SAPS Algoa Park detectives. The investigation is ongoing.
