An Athlone teenager claims he was mauled by a police dog while handcuffed.
The 17-year-old was seriously injured about 2am on Tuesday after he was discovered hiding in the roof of a church hall in Hazendal, near Bokmakierie.
He alleged a police dog was set on him after he had been apprehended and handcuffed. He sustained seven open bite wounds on his back, right shoulder, right arm, right hand and lower right hip.
The teen was treated at the Hanover Park Day Hospital on Tuesday and discharged.
His parents, who live in Bokmakierie near Athlone, vowed yesterday to sue the police.
The couple yesterday laid an attempted murder charge against two members of the Cape Peninsula dog unit.
"He did not steal anything, and the policemen could have waited for him to come down," said the teenager's father.
"What the police did is brutality and attempted murder. He was handcuffed while the dog attacked him." The teen claimed that he saw a broken window at the hall, and climbed through.
He said the police arrived and ordered him to get down from the roof where he was hiding.
"I surrendered and was handcuffed," said the teen. "But then the policemen set their dog on me, shouting 'Vreet hom' (eat him).
He alleged that while the dog was attacking, biting and mauling him, the policemen stood laughing.
They then took him to the Hanover Park Day Hospital where he was treated and discharged into the care of the police.
He was detained for burglary at the Wynberg police station.
Captain Francois Mouton of the dog unit said the policemen issued several warnings before sending the dog up a ladder and into the roof.
Mouton said the church hall's alarm was activated by somebody and an armed response security officer arrived on the scene.
He alerted the police, telling them that although he suspected the burglars had run away, he was sure there was somebody hiding in the roof.
It was then that the police issued warnings for the person to come down or dogs would be sent up to fetch him.
Captain André Venter of the Athlone police said the matter had been referred to the police's internal investigation unit after the teenager's family laid the charge.
He said the police dog had bitten the teenager while arresting him in the roof, but added that the policemen were not aware of who was hiding in the roof, and that the person could have been armed.
"Dog unit members are aware that police brutality will not be tolerated, so that is why they followed procedure and warned the person first," Venter said.
The teenager's father said his son appeared in the Athlone Magistrate's Court in connection with a charge of burglary. He was released into his mother's custody yesterday.
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