Witness statements vital in police investigations

WITNESS statements are an important part of police investigations in any road accident, a senior police officer said.
4-Mile police traffic section Inspector Philip Koliadi said this yesterday following an accident on the Sir John Guise Drive intersection with Kumul Avenue in Port Moresby on Saturday.
He said the accident involved a police vehicle and three other vehicles that were travelling from Vision City.
He said the accident was caused by a police officer who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol.
According to reports, the police officer was driving from Vision City at around 3.30pm towards the Parliament House when he hit a vehicle at the traffic lights causing it to bump into another two vehicles as they were waiting at the traffic lights.
Koliadi said he was not sure if there were casualties but was told only the vehicles were damaged.
He said they have collected particulars and statements from the other drivers.
“We are going to find out and if the police officer is at fault, he will be dealt with accordingly.”
He said they had not made any arrest as yet because they were still investigating.
“The very important thing now is for us to collect witness statements from eye witnesses as that would assist us to identify who is at fault,” Koliadi said.
Meanwhile, he said there were two other road accidents along the Sogeri Road.
Koliadi said an accident occurred  on Saturday at about 7.30am at the Morobe Block. A PMV was heading towards the city when a Daikin Air Condition vehicle made a U-turn there and collided with the bus.
There were no major casualties but a woman and her child sitting beside the PMV door only received minor scratches. Police attended to the scene and arrested the driver of the company vehicle who is now under police custody.
Another vehicle was travelling towards the Bomana way when he hit the back of a police vehicle.
Both drivers have been charged with driving without due care and attention.