Man allegedly jumps out of Police vehicle to his death in Kumasi

Police in the Ashanti Region are claiming a middle-aged man arrested in Kumasi over alleged careless driving has jumped out of a moving police vehicle to his death.

The man, who is yet to be identified, was being driven to the Tafo Pankrono Police Station Sunday morning in the said police vehicle when he allegedly jumped out in a bid to escape.

He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Tafo Government Hospital, the police said in a statement issued Monday morning.

“The man jumped out from the vehicle trying to escape from the police but fell down in the process and became unconscious. The patrol team rushed him to the Tafo Government Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival,” the police claimed.

According to the Police statement, the deceased was driving an unregistered Toyota Pasco private saloon car, and “driving recklessly, making other oncoming vehicles veer off their lane”.

He was said to have ignored a police patrol team signal to stop, causing the patrol team to chase him.

The man was arrested and “a Community Policing Assistant was to escort him to the Tafo Pankrono Police Station with the Patrol Team following closely,” the police claimed in the statement.

On reaching the Tafo Government Hospital junction, the police said the man attempted to escape and jumped out of the vehicle leaving him unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital.

Some youth of the area were said to have stormed the hospital just at the time that the patrol team was leaving the health facility.

They were said to have “physically assaulted some of the hospital staff” after which they took the body of the deceased to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

Police reinforcement was called in and five persons were arrested to assist in investigations into the alleged assault.

The Police claimed, it has since taken up the case of the death of the man, and assured the public they will “follow due process to investigate it thoroughly”.

They have thus urged everyone to “remain calm”, indicating “the outcome of the investigation will be made known to the public”.

The Police are now appealing to eyewitnesses, drivers and residents in and around Krofrom, Tafo Pankrono and the Tafo Government Hospital area to volunteer information to the police

The statement however failed to say whether the officers of involved in the case have been made to step aside for investigations. It also failed to say what happened to the car the man was driving at the time of the arrest.

Meanwhile, some people have questioned the account by the police, especially coming on the back of the ‘concocted’ by the Ashanti Regional Police Command to cover up the killing of seven persons at Manso Nkwanta on July 17, 2018.

The police after that incident displayed varied weapons claiming to be those found on the seven persons who according to the police, were armed robbers and had engage some of their personnel in a shootout.

A fact-finding committee later found there were no facts to establish that the deceased persons were armed robbers who engaged in exchange of fire with the police.

Families of the seven victims have since been given 1.75 million cedis as compensation.