The police officer in-charge of Makerere University Police Station on Sunday morning had had his vehicle reduced to ashes after a freak auto crash in which he allegedly knocked his Kololo Airstrip Police Post counterpart, Mr Bernard Ogwang.

Witnesses say Mr Phillip Acaye was driving a Mercedes Benz and hit Mr Ogwang, who was riding back home on his official motorcycle, at around 2am on Saturday night.

The auto crash broke out at the Spear Motors Junction in Nakawa, an eastern city suburb, on Jinja highway.

Detectives are probing whether the errant officer was under the influence of alcohol by the time of the mishap.

The motorcycle that Ogwang was riding got stuck on the vehicle, which dragged it on the bitumen surface until the friction sparked fire that consumed both the bike and vehicle.

“[Makerere OC Acaye] was trying to escape mob justice by boda boda riders, who chased him…,” one witness said.

Mr Phillip Saita, a good samaritan, who helped extricate Mr Acaye from the flaming vehicle, said the police officer surprisingly punched him when he rescued him. He offered to rather die than live as he searched for his gun, Mr Saita said.

“I lost my phone. I believed he [was] an army officer because he was even asking for his gun,” he said.

The scene where the vehicle was set ablaze at around 2:30am, the Silver Grey Mercedes Benz, which had fallen into Ntinda 11 Road side drain, just above Shell Ntinda, was smoldering.

A source who did not want to be named, said both officers sustained wounds after the clash.

The Kololo Police Post chief allegedly broke a limb and was admitted at Iran-Uganda Hospital in Naguru while Mr Acaye, who is said to have multiple wounds, was transported to Mulago National Referral Hospital.