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Andile Tshuma, Court Reporter
A PIRATE taxi driver and his assistant who were arrested for resisting arrest and kidnapping two police officers have escaped jail after a magistrate slapped them with fines for their offence.
Brilliant Nsingo (25) of Cowdray Park and Nicholas Moyo (25) of no fixed abode allegedly told the cops they wanted to show them that they (the driver and tout) were not humans, but dogs.
They appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Ms Nyaradzo Ringisai on Friday for sentence.
Nsingo was fined $250 while his accomplice, Moyo, was slapped with a $200 fine.
The pirate crew allegedly threatened to kill Assistant Inspector Vongai Munyikwa and Constable Bonface Mashora before they managed to escape from the moving vehicle at a bush near Ngozi mine landfill site in Bulawayo.
For the state, Mr Tony Kamudyariwa said on August 17 along Nketa Drive near Western Commonage Court, traffic police were carrying out an operation dubbed “No to Honda Fit,” targeting small unlicensed vehicles which he said have caused havoc on the roads. “At a certain point along Nketa Drive, the driver picked up two officers, Mashora and Munyikwa based at Bulawayo Traffic West, who were clad in civilian attire and were purporting to be commuters,” said Mr Kamudyariwa.
He said the officers identified themselves by showing their police identity cards to Nsingo who immediately stopped the car and refunded two other passengers before asking them to get out of the car.
The prosecutor said: “Moyo then took over the steering wheel and drove at high speed towards Old Khami Road intersection. He was ordered to drive to Traffic West but did not take heed.
“He turned into Masiyephambili Drive and drove due north towards Ngozi mine, threatening the officers with death and indicating to them that he wanted to prove that he was not human but a dog.”
The officers only managed to jump off the moving vehicle which had slowed down due to the bad state of the road. — @andile_tshuma.
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