By James Muonwa, Mashonaland West Correspondent
A DARING Lion’s Den man has appeared in court facing charges of storming a police station last December before manhandling a police officer, grabbing tear smoke from him before throwing it into the holding cells.
Scores of suspects in the holding cells as a result escaped in the ensuing melee as police officers manning station sought cover.
Farai Tapererwa (29) of Murereka, Lion’s Den in Chinhoyi was arrested last week before he was arraigned before magistrate Tendai Banda Saturday who remanded him in custody to 27 April 2021.
He is facing charges of causing malicious damage to property at Murereka Police Station in Lion’s Den and public violence.
According to the state led by Tendai Tapi, Tapererwa and his colleagues on 26 December 2020, had a misunderstanding with Samson Chirongozi over money for an undisclosed service they had rendered.
Sensing danger, Chirongozi sped off from the gang in his Mazda B1600 and sought refuge at the police station.
Tapererwa and his gang pursued Chirongozi at the police station where they went on a rampage smashing his vehicle’s windscreen and bonnet, before piercing two tyres with sharp objects thereby deflating them. Damages to the car are estimated at US$823.
Whilst still at the police station, Tapererwa and his marauding gang allegedly stormed the charge office where they manhandled a cop, Wellington Katsande and forcibly took two tear smoke canisters from him.
They then removed the canisters’ safety pins and threw one inside the charge office and the other on the camp’s yard.
It was heard in court detained suspects inside the police station’s cells and police officers manning the station were affected by the tear smoke resulting in detained suspects escaping from custody in the ensuing melee.
Tapererwa and his accomplices allegedly went on to indiscriminately throw stones and smashed window panes and asbestos roofs of police station buildings.
His accomplices were arrested earlier and have since appeared in court before they were granted bail.
