Cop denies firing at ‘kaibar’ woman

Lae News, Normal
Source:

The National –Thursday, January 6, 2011

 By RIGGO NANGAN

A POLICE officer who fired shots at Omili settlers in Lae has denied shooting at the woman at a fast-food outlet.

The police officer, who requested to remain anonymous, is a CID sergeant attached to the provincial police headquarters in Lae.   

He said on Tuesday that he was the one who fired the shots but not directly the woman inside the shop.

He said he was with two other policemen and a couple of civilians who were patrolling the city in an unmarked Toyota Landcruiser between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning last week.

About a couple of hours after midnight, he said they stopped at Omili for a cigarette and betelnut when a youth snatched a bag belonging to one of the policemen in the vehicle and ran off.

“We tried to stop the youth but he kept running so I fired shots into the air hoping that he would stop,” he said.

The officer said the bag contained personal items including driver’s licence, bank card and other important documents.

A Chimbu woman, Anna Joe, claimed later that she was hit on the left breast by a bullet by a drunken policeman.

She said the bullet went through a food warmer and hit her and was rushed to the Angau General Hospital.  

The officer said he tried to see the woman but her relatives refused. 

He said if the bullet had hit the women, she would have died on the spot. 

Meanwhile, the owner of the food bar, Toka Gurame said the police officer and their colleagues were heavily intoxicated and were off duty at the time of the incident.