Truck driver jailed 2 days over assault a police officer

A truck driver, Clement Buabeng, has been charged with 75 penalty units and jailed for two days by the Awutu Breku magistrate court.

The driver assaulted a police officer on duty.

What seemed like a routine vehicular check in Gomoa Akotsi, a suburb of Gomoa in the Central Region, nearly escalated into an exchange of fists between a police officer, Clement Tetteh, and the truck driver, Clement Buabeng.

Buabeng was transporting sand without cover from a quarry site.

According to the 2004 Road Traffic Act and Truck Drivers Guide, “trucks carrying dirt, sand or gravels must be to be covered unless they have six inches of freeboard above the bed of the truck”

“You cannot assault me, an officer of the law for doing my job, let’s make this easy for both of us by following me to the station,” Tetteh said as he struggled to free himself from the grips of the driver and his men.

They had insisted on not offending the law, therefore, would not succumb to the arrest.

The police officer had a partner who looked on helplessly as the truck driver and his men heckled Tetteh.

He heaved a sigh of relief when Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, Executive Director of Crime Check Foundation stopped to enquire about what was happening.

“Yes, you’re a noble man and you know the law” he exclaimed.

There have been concerns about the increasing reports of civilians assaulting security persons, a recent one being a 21-year-old soldier, Imoro Sheriff, who was stabbed to death at Ashiaman on March 4, 2023.

“You are not supposed to attack an officer who is on duty especially as you have breached the law, you know you’re supposed to cover the vehicle that is what the law states,” Kwarteng told the angry men.

The driver said he had left the quarry site in a hurry due to safety measures but Mr. Kwarteng insisted that was not a good reason to resist arrest and assault an officer of the law.

“These men are our brothers and sisters trying to ensure law and order, we all cannot wear the uniforms, so we allow the few of them to do so, let’s accord them with the necessary respect and cooperate for a better country” he noted.

Buabeng, who was still not convinced about committing a crime was handcuffed and pulled away by two military officers who had stopped to learn about the scuffle.

Clement Buabeng was later arraigned before the Awutu Breku Magistrate court on Monday, March 13, 2023.

He was charged with 75 penalty units and two days imprisonment.