Car hijackers on the prowl

The men were arrested during a crime prevention operation in Leondale.

EMPD officers were approached and stopped by concerned members of the community about a suspicious house on Blesbok Street. They told the officers that the house was often visited by dubious characters during the early hours of the morning.

They also pointed to a dark German-make SUV with Mpumalanga registration plates, which was seen entering the premises at high speed.

According to the EMPD spokesperson, Kobeli Mokheseng, without hesitation, the officers responded to the call and headed straight to the house where they found the two occupants.

“The men were arrested when the officers uncovered a almost completely stripped blue BMW X1 SUV, which was reported hijacked from the owner in Katlehong area, in Mnisi section earlier that day,” said Mokheseng.

Mokheseng said to the Kathorus MAIL that it would not be possible for the EMPD to provide the media with details and figures of suspects arrested by the Metro Police for vehicle crimes.

“Our EMPD officers may be responsible for the arrest of a vehicle crime suspect or any other criminal offence, but they do not get involved in the case once they have handed the suspect over to the SAPS at a designated police station,” Mokheseng explained.

Vehicle crime statistics reveal that motor vehicle thefts are more likely to result in the vehicle owner’s loss of life at the hands of the attacker. Many of those who have survived a violent car crime ordeal such as a car hi-jacking at gun-point admit that it the most traumatic experience they have experienced.

“I still wake-up at night sweating as I relive the memory of what happened to me that night,” explained 40-year-old mother of five, Nobantu, of Ramokonopi Section in Katlehong.

Two other hi-jacking victims, one in Rondebult and in Vosloorus, cancelled the interview with the paper at the last moment citing fear of being possibly victimised by their attackers who were were never arrested.

Constable Sivenkosi Mutwa, spokesperson for the Katlehong SAPS, described vehicle hi-jacking around the township suburbs as of great concern.

“As the police, we are warning the community at large about the dangers posed by the marauding gangs of car thieves,” explained Mtwa.

Police have also confirmed that although a large percentage of stolen vehicles are often driven across the borders into neighbouring states, in most instances many of them are stolen to commit crimes or sometimes even for the purpose of joy rides.

Such stolen vehicles are later dumped without being damaged or stripped of their parts or sold to vehicle crime syndicates for parts.

“The SAPS management has revived an old police unit to deal with vehicle theft crimes.”