Swift reaction by Reiger Park police got a gang of four men behind bars for allegedly looting 14 computers in a robbery at the Reiger Park Clinic.
It is alleged the men had jumped over the fence to gain entry into the facility and forced their way into the clinic building at night on July 19.
According to the Reiger Park police, four armed men, brandishing what appeared to be a pistol, stormed the council-owned clinic, handcuffed the security guard and forced him to lie on the floor under a table.
They then took the guard’s cellphone and panic button before proceeding to the offices where they looted the government computers. Investigations revealed they put the computers in wheelie bins and made off with their loot to Germiston Extension Nine, on foot.
The matter was then reported to the police and a manhunt was immediately launched. Detectives made numerous enquiries, and information gathered led them to the suspects’ residence in Germiston on July 21.
They found one of the suspects, and he was arrested. An investigation continued and officers found the other three suspects in Dikathole during the early hours of July 22.
The suspects were reportedly found in possession of the guard’s cellphone, one of the stolen computers and a replica firearm believed to have been used in the robbery.
The suspects reportedly told the officer they sold the other computers to a Nigerian national in Johannesburg, but efforts to find them have so far proved unsuccessful.
The men, aged between 23 and 31, were charged with business robbery, and further charges related to the replica firearm (dangerous weapon) and recovered stolen goods may be added. They are all set to appear in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court.
Management at the station commended the officers involved on their swift response, saying the latest arrest is once again a reminder to criminals that police will not allow them to wreak havoc in the community.
One of the police officers who were involved in the manhunt said he failed to understand what kind of people would target such a facility where they seek medical help.
Police appeal to anyone with information on the whereabouts of the outstanding computers to come forward.
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