Drunk man crashes vehicle into Dubai Police patrol car

Dubai - He is also charged with possessing 11 cans of alcohol -- which he intended to share with others -- without a licence.

An Emirati man has gone on trial in the Court of First Instance, accused of assaulting a police officer and fiercely resisting arrest.

The 34-year-old unemployed man is also accused of putting the lives of two patrol police officers at risk after he swerved his car suddenly while the police were trying to stop him.

He was allegedly drunk when he intentionally caused Dh6,900 damage to the police car after he ran into it.

He is also charged with possessing 11 cans of alcohol -- which he intended to share with others -- without a licence.

According to public prosecution records, the incident took place on January 26, 2014, after the police received several complaints about individuals posing as cops and robbing people, mainly workers, of their cash and sometimes even kidnapping them.

"There were several complaints within less than one week about a man driving around, along with other suspects, stopping workers and stealing their cash after pretending to be policemen. When we reached the place we met the complainant who gave us the car's descriptions," a police officer said.

"At that very moment, we spotted the same car in the street. The driver would not obey our order to stop and kept speeding and driving recklessly and even swerving in our direction until he crashed into our car."

The defendant then hit the pavement and had to stop. He pushed the officer when he tried to arrest him and fled the scene. "We arrested his 44-year-old Iranian accomplice first. We caught him later."

A 36-year-old Bangladeshi man said he was walking at night in Al Quoz when three men in a vehicle stopped him.

"The driver stepped off and said they were CID officers. He asked for my ID and then punched me. His friends forced me inside their car. I was taken to a desert location where they snatched Dh1,200 from my wallet," the labourer said. He reported them to the police straight away.

The two defendants have been charged with forced robbery, kidnap, impersonation of police officers and criminal complicity. Only the main accused is facing charges of assaulting an on-duty police officer, putting others' lives at risk, damaging public property, drinking and possession of liquor without a license with the intention to give to others.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai