EMPD Security & Loss Control Unit members on Wednesday afternoon arrested two more suspects in connection with the theft of power cables that left Tambo Memorial Hospital without power and put patients’ lives at risk.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, officers arrested another suspect in connection with the theft.
Thieves had dug up about 300m of live electricity cables from three separate spots, two on Trichardts Road in Cason, and one on Railway Street in Plantation. The thefts plunged Cason, Plantation, Comet and other nearby areas into darkness.
However, at about 6am, the EMPD officers responded to a report of a suspicious gang of five men digging a trench along Railway Street.
When the men in possession of picks and shovels noticed the approaching metro police vehicle, they started to run away, but the police managed to arrest one of them, a 38-year old man.
“The suspect was interrogated before he took officers to Angelo informal settlement, where two shacks were raided and a 30m electricity cable, which forms part of the 300m cable stolen in Railway Street, was found,” said EMPD spokesperson Kobeli Mokheseng.
Two men in their late 30s were arrested in connection with the stolen cables found in Angelo. One of them was limping and police discovered that he had sustained a bullet wound to his leg.
An ambulance was called and he received medical attention on site. It is still unclear as to how he sustained the injury, but this will form part of the ongoing investigation.
All three suspects are being detained at the Boksburg police station and each of them has been charged with possession of suspected stolen municipal infrastructure (electricity cable).
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