Police hunt for driver who ran over cop

The police have mounted a manhunt for a taxi driver who allegedly ran over a policeman on duty at the Dobro Barrier, near Amasaman in Accra, with his car and absconded on Thursday.

The driver, who had crashed his taxi into another vehicle, was exchanging words with the driver of that vehicle when the policeman, who was a few metres away from the scene of the crash, drew closer to intervene.

After knocking down the policeman and running into an open drain, the driver of the taxi, with registration number ER 871-18, abandoned the vehicle and took to his heels, while the helpless policeman shouted for help.

Accident

Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Accra Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mrs Effia Tenge, said about 9 p.m. Thursday, the Amasaman Divisional Police Command received a distress call about an accident at the Dobro Barrier and responded immediately.

On reaching the scene, the police found that a policeman, identified as Sergeant Appiah Owusu of the Formed Police Unit (FPU) of the Accra Regional Police Command, who was on duty at the barrier, had been knocked down by a car.

The injured policeman was taken to the Amasaman Hospital, from where he was referred to Police Hospital for further treatment.

In view of the gravity of his injury, it was recommended that Sergeant Owusu be transferred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, but he died on the way.

Profile

The 44-year-old policeman was born on September 5, 1974 and got enlisted into the Ghana Police Service on  May 5, 2003.

He was posted to the Accra Police Band on January 9, 2004 and then to the Sunyani Police Band on January 16, 2005.

After four years in Sunyani, he was transferred to the Head Office of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Accra on January 12, 2009.

He had been with the FPU since October 3, 2016.

He was married with five children, with his last child being below two years.