Driver filmed beating police officer appears in court

Driver Ian Njoroge who was caught in a viral video beating a police officer along Kamiti Road has appeared in court.

The man handcuffed Njoroge was dressed in a red hood and black trousers as a police officer escorted him.

Ian was arrested hours later in a house he was hiding in Kayole, Nairobi. Police had said he will be charged with among others attempted murder.

The driver, who police identified as Njoroge, was arrested in the Jacaranda area Sunday night as he allegedly planned to move out.

Police say he knew he was wanted and had contacted a friend to help him move to Jacaranda estate from his Balozi estate.

All resources had been shifted to search for the driver after he physically assaulted a 55-year-old police officer along Kamiti Road.

The horrible drama was caught on camera attracting outrage from the public. The drama happened Sunday morning.

The incident happened after the driver was involved in a traffic incident at Mirema junction.

Police said the driver was with another occupant in a salon car when they made a wrong U-turn at about 8 am Sunday.

In the process, the driver veered off the road and got stuck in a ditch as police approached the scene.

A police report says Corporal Jacob Ogendo arrived at the scene and managed to help the two remove the car from the ditch and ordered the driver to head to Kasarani police station as he boarded the co-driver seat.

The driver drove for a few meters and on reaching the opposite of a supermarket in the area, the police report says he pulled the handbrake and drew a sword from under his seat.

This prompted the officer to jump out for his safety and he sustained slight injuries, a police report on the incident added. The driver then followed him outside and started to punch and kick him, police said.

The officer fell on the road even as the assailant continued to assault him. The police officer was injured in the leg. He also had an old injury on the leg which made it worse, his colleagues said.

It wasn’t until when some motorists in a salon car arrived at the scene that the assailant escaped the scene. An accomplice was arrested at the scene.

Police said the driver escaped with the police communication gadget that was in the car.

The police officer was taken to a local private hospital and later transferred to Mama Lucy Hospital for further treatment.