Police shot a man in the hand and leg, moments after he and another man were allegedly involved with stealing a car at Lakeside Mall.
Benoni SAPS cluster spokesperson Tryna Maritz said the shooting took place on Rothsay Street this afternoon.
The Benoni SAPS and various Community Police Forum (CPF) members started conducting observation on two men driving in a gold BMW at the Northmead Square.
Maritz said CPF members noticed that the men looked suspicious and decided to follow them with the help of the Benoni SAPS.
The two suspects were followed to the Falls Spar and then to Lakeside Mall.
When in the Lakeside Mall underground parking, one of the suspects got out of the car and fiddled with a VW Caddy’s door for 40 seconds and gained entry to the car.
At this time the SAPS and CPF members were positioning themselves outside the mall.
Maritz said the BMW and Caddy drove out of the parking lot together.
While in Rothstay Street, the driver in the stolen vehicle bumped a taxi and injured two of the passengers.
He was arrested at the accident scene.
The driver of the BMW was shot on Rothsay Street and proceeded to drive off.
According to a Benoni CPF member the BMW driver drove at around 180km to 190km to evade arrest.
As the wounded driver made his way down Pretoria Road, the road was blocked off between Lessing Street and Vlei Road.
The man was arrested on that section of Pretoria Road and received medical care.
ER24 JHB East paramedics transported the wounded suspect to the Tembisa Hospital under police guard.
Maritz said she thinks the men could be involved with the theft of motor vehicles at Northmead Square.
Northmead Square centre management’s Stellio Coutsides said the Northmead Square has worked with the SAPS to curb vehicle theft at the centre.
He said he is pleased with the arrest and that the centre management will assist the SAPS to put criminals behind bars.
The suspects are facing charges of theft of a motor vehicle.
The Benoni SAPS will investigate the case.
Well done SAPS!!!!!!!!
I am happy that they were caught. We were right there at the traffic light to turn left towards spar when it happened. Our kids were in the car. I just think that it was risky not to close off the roads for the safety of other people. I also think it was risky for the police or the cpf guy to have fired 2 shots with people walking on the side of the road that he was firing. That poor lady dropped to the ground not knowing what was going on. Very risky in my opinion.
We were also caught in the shooting during the chase and I was horrified that we were in the firing line. At one stage I looked up and the gunning was pointing at me. Must commend CPF for the support afterwards though. They responded quickly and offered medical care and counselling. Well done for catching the guys involved.