QUICK thinking by a driver and hastily planned police action led to the arrest yesterday (21 January) of suspects involved in the hijackings and robbery of Taxify and Uber drivers
While on duty in the vicinity of Ridge Road, Berea, Mayville SAPS officers Sgt Seethal and Cst Sosibo were flagged down by a frantic Taxify driver who said he felt that a passenger who he commissioned to pick up seemed untoward. The police officers were at the time busy with a stop and search of a suspicious vehicle on Ridge Road.
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The driver told police that as he drove past the location of his passenger, he and his companions, seemed suspicious and that is when he decided to drive on. When he saw the police officers he stopped and asked them to check out the passengers before he fetched them.
The policemen then suggested that the driver pick up the men and they would then conduct an orchestrated stop and search as soon as the passengers were collected.
As planned, the officers stopped and the planned search continued. Of the three suspects, one fled while the other two were being searched. A 9mm pistol with its serial number, and ammunition, were found on one of the suspects.
Mayville SAPS and eThekwini Cluster CPF chairperson Imtiaz Syed said that the arrest of the suspects was a major breakthrough in the recent spate of Uber and Taxify hijackings.
“The drivers through their own WhatsApp platforms commented that the suspects who were arrested were the same ones implicated in some 12 other cases of hijackings of the commuter service providers,” said Syed. “Our Mayville police officers did a sterling job in the execution of their duties. We thank them for their effort.”
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