According to the national police spokesperson, Brigadier Vish Naidoo, cash-in- transit robbers attacked a CIT vehicle in Wedela at around 11:00 on Friday, 30 April.
The vehicle was on its way to President Hyper in Fochville when suspects driving a white Lexus with the registration number HK 23 PM GP rammed into it. The driver of the Lexus lost control and drove into the yard of private premises.
Although the CIT vehicle’s driver managed to keep it on its wheels, robbers in two other vehicles started shooting at him and his crew. The robbers forced the driver to stop and made him and the two security guards in the back get out of the vehicle. The robbers seized the three firearms and multiple rounds of ammunition.
“The suspects used an explosive device to access the money and fled with an undisclosed amount. They drove off in a white 3-series BMW and a white A3 Audi, the registration of which is unknown. The driver of the CIT vehicle was injured in his right upper arm,” says Naidoo. Although no arrests were made initially, the police launched an intelligence-driven search for the robbers. Acting on information, the police arrived at a house in Welverdiend at 01:30 on Saturday. They found the white BMW 4-Series and Audi A3 used in the heist.
Police soon determined that the BMW was hijacked in Brooklyn in Pretoria in March this year, while the Audi was reported as stolen in Garsfontein in Pretoria in the same month. The police also found various goods linked to the crime and arrested the woman who owns the house on charges of the possession of suspected stolen vehicles and defeating the ends of justice. Investigators continued to follow up leads and found more items linked to the crime in Wedela. They continued the search for the suspects in Randfontein and Toekomsrus, where they arrested another suspect. A suspect from the Merafong City municipal area handed himself over to the Carletonville police on Monday morning.
