The arrests took place on the N3 freeway, northbound between the R23 and Spook bridges, and the arrests and recoveries were due to the efforts of the EMPD SWAT Unit, SAPS members and officers from a tracking company.
“With the assistance of a SAPS chopper, the law enforcers tracked the stolen SUV to the N3 freeway, where it was closed in,” explains EMPD spokesman Wilfred Kgasago.
“Two occupants were arrested when they tried to run away very fast, in order to escape on foot.
“Along with a 9mm CZ pistol, with its serial numbers tempered with and loaded with 15 live rounds of ammunition, two plasma television sets, a home theatre music system and a tablet were found in the stolen vehicle.”
Kgasago adds that the two suspects admitted to having broken into a house the previous night, in Newcastle (KZN), where a couple and two children were tied up with shoelaces and had their mouths stuffed with rags before the house was ransacked for valuables.
“The pair claimed they reside in Tsakane and were assisted by an accomplice who stays in Newcastle,” he says.
“The arrested suspects, aged 31 and 34, were detained at Heidelberg Police Station, on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, a stolen vehicle and suspected stolen goods.
“The recovered vehicle was taken to the SAPS Van Ryn Deep pound, in Benoni, and the goods and the firearm confiscated were booked in at Heidelberg Police Station.”
