PITBULL owner Travis Wade, who made headlines when his dogs attacked and killed former assistant nurse Haidee Pook last month, was entangled in a heated altercation after being involved in two hit-and-run accidents this week.
Wade, 28, knocked two vehicles within minutes of each other but failed to stop at either scene.
He told Saturday Dispatch he was racing to the hospital from Mdantsane where he had been stabbed in the upper arm and was in “too much of a state” to stop.
Wade said he had been attacked outside a butchery after confronting two men breaking into his car.
He had gone to the township to buy pork trotters for the two pitbulls that mauled Pook to death and are being held at the SPCA pending a court order on their fate.
An outraged Anton Oosthuizen said he was driving towards Amalinda on Voortrekker Road when a silver Ford Figo bumped his right rear bumper. “The car came fast from behind and started overtaking us,” said Oosthuizen.
“He just sped off overtaking other vehicles even though no overtaking is allowed on this stretch.”
Oosthuizen said he was “shocked and baffled”, but even more taken aback when he came across the same vehicle in another accident in Cambridge. “There were two traffic officers on the scene and an open beer bottle fell out the Figo.”
The driver of the second car, Dr Mandisa Joyi, said she had been joining the traffic in Queen Street on Thursday afternoon when her vehicle was struck by the side mirror of a passing vehicle.
“I was turning into the road and was not straight in the lane, but other cars were passing me,” said Joyi. “I heard a bump, but he didn’t stop. He was stuck in the traffic so I ran to him and asked him if he was aware he had bumped me.
“He said the only R20 and could he give me the R20.”
Joyi then spotted two traffic officers in a vehicle nearby whom she approached for help. “They pulled him over and I saw liquor in his car. He told them he had been mugged in Mdantsane and his blood was being smeared all over and paramedics arrived to bandage his arm. My car was not badly scratched but his mirror was broken. I did not smell alcohol on him but something was not right with him. I suggested we all go to the police station and get an affidavit, but by the time I got there he was gone and a police officer said he had been bleeding so she let him go to hospital. I told her that was not an emergency and that he had caused two accidents and that he should have taken a breathalyser test.”
According to Oosthuizen, the officer on duty said she let Wade go because he needed medical treatment and had 24 hours to return.
“Ms Joyi and I expressed shock and disbelief at this and demanded action regarding reckless and negligent driving, driving without a driver’s licence and suspected driving under the influence.”
Oosthuizen said a senior officer intervened and informed them that a breathalyser test should be done on all parties. Traffic officers were then dispatched to collect Wade from Life St Dominic’s Hospital where he said he had gone.
“They returned saying he had never arrived,” said Oosthuizen.
Wade, who said he works for a marketing company, said he had been working in Mdantsane and stopped at the butchery with his friend Wayne Brundyn.
“I saw two guys in my car and as I chased them, one slashed at me with his knife and I later had to have more than 30 stitches at St Doms. I put my hazards on and drove – I was in such a state,” he said. Wade claimed he did not remember bumping into Oosthuizen’s car and that the damage to Joyi’s car was “just a smudge”.
“She came from a side street and half her car was in my lane.”
He admitted to not having his driver’s licence on him.
“When I got to the police station I told them my story and they said I should go to hospital, but no cops came to St Doms. Why would they want to breathalyse me? I was working, not drinking.
“The beer bottle dumpies on my back seat were from the weekend.
“I don’t know why this is being blown out of proportion.”
Wade said he would return to the police station to lay a charge of assault and report the accidents.
Killer pitbulls’ owner stabbed ... then involved in two hit-and-runs
Wade, 28, knocked two vehicles within minutes of each other but failed to stop at either scene.
He told Saturday Dispatch he was racing to the hospital from Mdantsane where he had been stabbed in the upper arm and was in “too much of a state” to stop.
Wade said he had been attacked outside a butchery after confronting two men breaking into his car.
He had gone to the township to buy pork trotters for the two pitbulls that mauled Pook to death and are being held at the SPCA pending a court order on their fate.
An outraged Anton Oosthuizen said he was driving towards Amalinda on Voortrekker Road when a silver Ford Figo bumped his right rear bumper. “The car came fast from behind and started overtaking us,” said Oosthuizen.
“He just sped off overtaking other vehicles even though no overtaking is allowed on this stretch.”
Oosthuizen said he was “shocked and baffled”, but even more taken aback when he came across the same vehicle in another accident in Cambridge. “There were two traffic officers on the scene and an open beer bottle fell out the Figo.”
The driver of the second car, Dr Mandisa Joyi, said she had been joining the traffic in Queen Street on Thursday afternoon when her vehicle was struck by the side mirror of a passing vehicle.
“I was turning into the road and was not straight in the lane, but other cars were passing me,” said Joyi. “I heard a bump, but he didn’t stop. He was stuck in the traffic so I ran to him and asked him if he was aware he had bumped me.
“He said the only R20 and could he give me the R20.”
Joyi then spotted two traffic officers in a vehicle nearby whom she approached for help. “They pulled him over and I saw liquor in his car. He told them he had been mugged in Mdantsane and his blood was being smeared all over and paramedics arrived to bandage his arm. My car was not badly scratched but his mirror was broken. I did not smell alcohol on him but something was not right with him. I suggested we all go to the police station and get an affidavit, but by the time I got there he was gone and a police officer said he had been bleeding so she let him go to hospital. I told her that was not an emergency and that he had caused two accidents and that he should have taken a breathalyser test.”
According to Oosthuizen, the officer on duty said she let Wade go because he needed medical treatment and had 24 hours to return.
“Ms Joyi and I expressed shock and disbelief at this and demanded action regarding reckless and negligent driving, driving without a driver’s licence and suspected driving under the influence.”
Oosthuizen said a senior officer intervened and informed them that a breathalyser test should be done on all parties. Traffic officers were then dispatched to collect Wade from Life St Dominic’s Hospital where he said he had gone.
“They returned saying he had never arrived,” said Oosthuizen.
Wade, who said he works for a marketing company, said he had been working in Mdantsane and stopped at the butchery with his friend Wayne Brundyn.
“I saw two guys in my car and as I chased them, one slashed at me with his knife and I later had to have more than 30 stitches at St Doms. I put my hazards on and drove – I was in such a state,” he said. Wade claimed he did not remember bumping into Oosthuizen’s car and that the damage to Joyi’s car was “just a smudge”.
“She came from a side street and half her car was in my lane.”
He admitted to not having his driver’s licence on him.
“When I got to the police station I told them my story and they said I should go to hospital, but no cops came to St Doms. Why would they want to breathalyse me? I was working, not drinking.
“The beer bottle dumpies on my back seat were from the weekend.
“I don’t know why this is being blown out of proportion.”
Wade said he would return to the police station to lay a charge of assault and report the accidents.
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