Frenzied chase ends in air force captain’s arrest

Traffic officers within the Namibian Police are dissatisfied after a captain of the Namibian Air Force, who was arrested on Sunday for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, got bail of N$1 000 instead of the standard N$8 000 drunk drivers are legally required to pay.Cyrillus Shipahu Stefanus (48), whose rank is full colonel and is the group leader of the air force in Karibib, was caught driving at 205 kilometres per hour late on Sunday between Windhoek and Okahandja – far above the legal speed limit of 120km/h. A camera caught him speeding just behind the Okapuka road block towards Okahandja, but Stefanus allegedly failed to stop when he was ordered to do so by officers and, instead, sped off.“He almost ran over a police officer who tried to stop him,” an eyewitness told Namibian Sun.Police then chased him nearly 20 kilometres until they caught up with him near Osona Village, when a truck obstructed his path to further flee.“Police struggled to catch up with him because he was driving an expensive Mercedes vehicle, while police are driving a much cheaper car. A truck that was trying to overtake obstructed him and that’s how the police caught up with him and eventually pulled him off the road,” the witness to the drama relayed.Way above the limitCourt records show that Stefanus was driving under severe influence of alcohol, clocking 0.99 milligrams per litre, which is way above the legal limit of 0.37mg/l.He was arrested and spent Sunday night at the Seeis police station outside Windhoek. He appeared in court on Monday, where he faced charges of reckless or negligent driving as well as driving under the influence of alcohol. Traffic officers were not happy that there was no charge related to Stefanus ignoring being stopped and having to be chased for a long distance before he was eventually arrested.But what angered the officers even more is that Stefanus was granted bail of N$1 000, when the standard amount for drunken driving cases is N$8 000.“If it was an ordinary Namibian, they would have paid N$8 000 or remained in jail. But here we have a senior military official paying N$1 000 for a very serious situation that also involves running away from traffic police officials,” a senior figure in the force commented yesterday.Bail was granted by Magistrate Surita Savage, who postponed the matter to 30 November. The State was represented by prosecutor Victoria Thompson. Stefanus indicated that he will acquire the services of a private lawyer to represent him in the matter.

Frenzied chase ends in air force captain’s arrest

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-23

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Frenzied chase ends in air force captain’s arrest

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-23

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