A suspected armed robber, who was injured in a shoot-out with security guards and the police, wants to plead guilty to several charges including one of attempted murder of police officers.
Lukhanyo Mthombeni (38) was granted free bail on 26 May by the Alex Magistrates’ Court. The case was postponed to 26 June to allow for his amputated leg to heal fully and in anticipation of a social worker’s report. He is also charged with hijacking, kidnapping and possession of restricted rifles.
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On 31 January this year, he and three accomplices were involved in a shoot-out with guards of a tracking company and police officers who traced a vehicle that had been hijacked in Crown Mines, to a house on 3rd Street, Kew.
The four men said to have been armed with AK rifles and travelling in a BMW, stopped a businessman in a vehicle as he was going to order goods for his shop in Musina. The victim had R50 000 cash on him. Two of the suspects got into the victim’s vehicle, pointed guns at him, forced him to the back seat and to lie facing down. They drove off with him to the house on 3rd Street, Kew, with their accomplices following from behind in the BMW.
When the guards and the police arrived, the hijackers with the victim, drove off to escape, resulting in a shoot-out that ended on 9th Street. The accused was injured in the process, one of his accomplices was killed and the other two escaped.
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Two AK rifles suspected to belong to the gang were recovered on the scene and the shaken, but uninjured, victim’s money was scattered around. It wasn’t specified if his vehicle was damaged.
