An Alex man was remanded in custody by the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court pending further investigation for alleged house robbery, theft and hijacking.
The court heard that the suspect, Cornelius Rakhomo, who allegedly conducted the crimes with two accomplices who escaped, was arrested on 18 November last year on 1st Avenue, Alex, after a car chase involving a hijacked car which was reported stolen in Emmarentia on 8 November the same year. He was also found in possession of a gun, also reported stolen during a house robbery which occurred on 11 November last year in Kempton Park.
He was arrested after police spotted the vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz Compressor, being driven suspiciously on 1st avenue before speeding off when waved to stop.
Rakhomo is suspected to have been one of two men who stole the car at gunpoint from the owner who had parked on the side of a road in Emmarentia. The two also allegedly robbed the victim of a wrist watch, a wallet containing money and credit cards and a cellphone after forcing him to lie down before fleeing in the car.
He is also suspected to have been a member of a gang of four involved in the Kempton Park house robbery. There, they are alleged to have locked a couple in a bathroom after robbing them of their wedding rings, an undisclosed amount of cash, two shotguns, two pistols and rounds of ammunition, before driving off in a Mercedes-Benz with no number plates and fitting the description of the hijacked vehicle.
His accomplices are still at large.
