Tireless work and investigative skills have led to the arrest of several suspects in cases of hijacking that occurred last year.
Captain Granville Meyer, spokesperson for the Sandton Police Station, said a 39-year-old man was arrested through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (Afis).
“The system flagged the suspect as being involved in a hijacking on the M1 freeway and Marlboro off-ramp that happened in November 2017.”
Meyer said a shootout ensued after Metro police gave chase, but the suspect got away. “The suspect was then traced and arrested in Riverpark. He also has previous convictions for various types of crimes.”
The suspect is currently in detention and will appear in Alexandra Regional Court on 31 January.
In another success, Meyer said the Alexandra Crime Combatting Unit arrested a suspect after a vehicle was spotted in Alex that had been hijacked in Sandringham. “They observed the vehicle for a while, and after the suspect returned to it, they arrested him.”
Meyer said the suspect is currently in detention and will appear in court soon.
He said the Midrand police and Community Policing Forum (CPF) members recovered a hijacked truck in Glen Austin.
He said the truck with IT equipment was hijacked at the corner of Olifantsfontein and Hampton roads. “The suspects pulled the truck over with a white Audi and drove the truck into an open field in Hampton Road where it was followed by another truck.
“More than eight suspects opened the hijacked truck and started to offload the IT equipment into the getaway truck.”
Meyer said local CPF members on patrol in the area came across the incident and the suspects started to flee. “A 36-year-old man was arrested while trying to flee and the Audi that was used in the hijacking was confiscated. The Audi was stolen in Brakpan in December last year.”
All the IT equipment worth millions was still intact on the scene. The suspect is currently in detention and will appear in court soon.
Details: Sandton Police Station 011 722 4200.
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