Four Kirkwood detectives arrested for alleged corruption

Four detectives from Kirkwood police station appeared at the Port Elizabeth Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Wednesday for allegedly paying a man to drop an assault charge against one of them.

Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said the Serious Crime Investigation team arrested detective sergeants Riaan van Reenen, 40, Liza van Reenen, 45, Ferdinand Noonen, 36, and Warrant Officer Gabriel Hobbs, 49.

Ramovha said the four allegedly acted together to ensure an assault case, which occurred on March 26 2018, was withdrawn against Sergeant Riaan van Reenen.

“The alleged assault of the victim, 51, took place in the Kirkwood area and he subsequently opened a case docket at the local police station.

"The said case was assigned to Sergeant Ferdinand Noonen for investigation. On April 4 2018, the two sergeants and Warrant Officer Hobbs allegedly visited the home of the complainant and offered him money to drop charges against their colleague,” he said.

“The complainant eventually accepted an amount of R500 under duress, after the arrival of the investigating officer in the case [R400 of which was paid immediately] with an arrangement that the balance was to be paid at a later stage.”

Ramovha said the docket containing the withdrawal statement was then presented to the public prosecutor's office for decision and the prosecutor declined to prosecute.

“During October 2018, the matter was revived following information advanced by the complainant in an internal disciplinary process.”

All four accused have each been released on R1,000 bail and due to appear in court on June 21.