MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A suspect arrested in connection with the alleged assault on Park Primary School’s grounds manager, Wessel van Dyk, on Sunday 16 August will be appearing in the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court today, 18 August, on a number of charges related to the assault, trespassing and a motor vehicle accident that occurred moments after the suspect allegedly had left the school.
Van Dyk and a woman living across from the school, who wishes to remain anonymous, recounted the events to Mossel Bay Advertiser.
According to the woman, she and her husband had noticed a car was being parked in front of their house at about 14:00 on Sunday.
They saw a man get out and walk across the street to Park Primary, where he climbed over a low wall onto the school’s grounds. The woman says he had a skateboard in hand.
She called Van Dyk, who has been living on the property as the grounds manager for 18 years. He suspected the man of coming onto the property to skate.
“I confronted the guy and told him this is private property he is not allowed on,” he says. “We got into an argument. I pushed him and he swung at me with his skateboard, hitting me on the side of my body.”
The two began wrestling on the ground. Van Dyk says he had a broken hockey stick in his hand, but the suspect had the upper hand in the scuffle and had managed to pin him down. He was then struck in the face with the skateboard while on the ground.
“Eventually we realised this was not going to help anything, so we got up and I walked with him to the gate so he could leave. The woman and her husband were waiting for me. When they saw my bloody face, I told them to call the police,” says Van Dyk.
The suspect allegedly got in his car and drove away. The woman told the Advertiser her husband and another resident followed him while she stayed with Van Dyk, waiting for an ambulance and the police to arrive. The Bodorp Neighbourhood Watch also responded to the call-out.
A screenshot from a video of the accident scene along Louis Fourie Road in Voorbaai, Mossel Bay. Video screenshot: Michael de Nobrega/Facebook
Moments later, a vehicle accident took place on Louis Fourie Road in Voorbaai. It is believed that the suspect in the assault is linked to the accident.
In some video footage of the scene, which was shared on Facebook on Sunday, a car can be seen landing in a ditch on the side of the road.
The driver gets out and can be heard angrily shouting profanities at bystanders, and he kicked another vehicle on the scene.
He then quickly climbs back into his car, as if to drive away. However, as soon as the Mossel Bay Police arrive on the scene, he gets out and begins walking away, busy on his phone. He is quickly stopped by a police officer and escorted back to the scene.
Van Dyk’s facial injuries required stitches above both eyes. He had bruising to his body as well as bleeding and bruising over his kidneys. He was discharged from the hospital and is currently recovering at home.
The cause of the accident is not yet known and the police’s investigation into both incidents are ongoing.
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