Paintball Prank

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mass09

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What started out as a probable prank has had serious consequences for two Pietermaritzburg brothers.

Grant and Ross Whitehead of Hilton were released on warning by the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court on Monday after appearing on charges of attempted murder for Grant and reckless and negligent driving for Ross.

The Whiteheads were arrested after Grant allegedly shot at Sandile Thabethe's car with a paintball gun at a set of robots at the corner of Pine Street and Mayors' Walk.

Thabethe, a police K9 unit member, was returning from picking up his wife from the Pietermaritzburg FET college in Pine Street at about 19:00.

As he left the FET premises to join Pine Street towards Mayor’s Walk, a car came from behind him, allegedly at a high speed, just before the robots turned red.

Thabethe said as he proceeded ahead an occupant in the vehicle behind him started shooting at his vehicle. The vehicle turned right into Mayor’s Walk and he made a U-turn and followed them.

"As we were waiting for the robots to turn green I heard the bangs against my car and at the same time the robots turned green. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw this person pointing a rifle and suddenly they overtook me.

"I gave chase and called for backup at the same time. My concern was that these boys put my wife and kid’s lives at risk," said Thabethe.

He said the shooter’s car sped down Mayor’s Walk, forcing other motorists to give way.

It was eventually cornered in Victoria Road. When asked why they had shot at Thabethe's car the brothers allegedly said he was obstructing them on the road.

The brothers were arrested while a third occupant was set free.

"What they did was dangerous and they were lucky that I was not carrying my service pistol otherwise there would have been a mess.

"It was a stupid thing they did at that time because all I saw was a rifle and I would have been charged for murder now.

"You don’t play such a silly game at that time of the day because I couldn't tell whether that was a real gun or not.

"I had to take my wife to the doctor for counselling because she was so upset,” said Thabethe.

He said he was not happy because a source close to the case said the court wanted to withdraw the charges against the two on the grounds that it was just a prank.

Yet the prank could have resulted in the loss of lives, he said.

The brothers’ mother, who would not give her first name, was livid on hearing that the story was going into The Witness.

She threatened to cancel her subscription to the paper if the story was published.

She also refused to give this reporter her sons' contact numbers, saying that Ross has gone back to university and Grant was driving to Gauteng.

"The cop said some nasty things to my boys and if you put this in the paper there will be repercussions as this matter is with our lawyers," she said, asking the reporter to phone back for her husband.

On the second call, Mr Whitehead said he had nothing to say and that The Witness needed to go back to court on October 18 to get the facts straight. He then hung up.

Pietermaritzburg police spokesperson Lieutenant Joey Jeevan said the brothers were released on warning and will appear in court on Tuesday, October 18.
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Link : News24

I'm glad they got caught. You can't do such a thing in our country with our high crime rate.
They should be thankful that the cop didn't have his pistol with him.
 
This reminds me when I was younger me and a friend used to throw small stones from behind the fence at cars passing. Once we threw one and it cracked the guys windscreen and he got out and came to the house.
 
"I gave chase and called for backup at the same time. My concern was that these boys put my wife and kid’s lives at risk," said Thabethe.
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Besides idiots with paintball guns, how are you concerned about your wife and kids being in danger but are happy to chase after someone with a rifle?
 
Albereth said:
Besides idiots with paintball guns, how are you concerned about your wife and kids being in danger but are happy to chase after someone with a rifle?
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He probably figured out by then that it was a paintball gun and he wanted to make sure they got caught.
 
Mom threatened to cancel her subscription? With a mother like that no wonder her kids are behaving the way they are:wtf:
 
Albereth said:
Besides idiots with paintball guns, how are you concerned about your wife and kids being in danger but are happy to chase after someone with a rifle?
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One of the few who's willing to risk their lives in order to make SA a safer place.


I agree with the cop. You don't play such pranks.
 
mass09 said:
He probably figured out by then that it was a paintball gun and he wanted to make sure they got caught.
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Nah - it doesn't read that way. If he had figured out that it was a paintball gun by that stage then his comments about service pistols and him being charged with murder are BS.

I am not saying that it is okay do aim, let alone shoot, at someone with a paintball gun but I think that the story is being embellished a tad. Perhaps it is his 15 minutes? The kids should have been given a good thrashing, the painball gun broken over a knee and the world can move on.

But no - we have a cop who is annoyed that he doesn't get to be melodramatic in court. And it will come to nothing. Those kids are going to argue that they were being chased by someone who they have already claimed was a nuisance on the road. And what can the cop say? He thought it was a rifle? Then why did he chase them? Or he recognised it was a paintball gun? In which case they might go for a damage to property case.

Of course the otherside are going to argue that the cop was driving like a chop. They thought is they could mark the car and then report his dangerous driving, the cops might be able to find him. And then the car turned around and started chasing them so they sped down Mayor's Walk.
 
Idiots. Leave the paintball for the range.. or taxis(jk) ..or self defence.

"It was a stupid thing they did at that time because all I saw was a rifle and I would have been charged for murder now.
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Surely you'd assess the situation before firing your weapon.
 
The_Librarian said:
One of the few who's willing to risk their lives in order to make SA a safer place.


I agree with the cop. You don't play such pranks.
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The next person who is willing to risk my life for any cause whatsoever gets a bullet in the face. That's a choice I make - nobody else.
 
if someone pulls out a gun at me but doesn't shoot, and i shoot him in self-defence only to later discover that it was a toy gun. what will i be charged for?
 
abzo said:
if someone pulls out a gun at me but doesn't shoot, and i shoot him in self-defence only to later discover that it was a toy gun. what will i be charged for?
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If you thought that it was a real gun you will be charged with culpable homicide and released.

If you realised it was a toy gun and shot him you will be charged with murder.
 
Looks to me like a case of spoilt brats landing in hot water. Parents should be charged for negligence as well
 
flarkit said:
Looks to me like a case of spoilt brats landing in hot water. Parents should be charged for negligence as well
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Hmmm if they were spoilt brats whose parents need to be charged, wouldn't the cops have hit them with driving without a licence as well?
 
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