Murderers escape from Leeuwkop prison, kidnap baby during home robbery

Moments after escaping from Leeuwkop prison on Thursday, two convicted murderers broke into a house and kidnapped a four-month-old baby.

While robbing the home in Beverley, near Fourways, the men became aware that security company Fidelity had been alerted and guards were outside the house.

“A domestic worker saw them from inside and locked the back door. It is alleged that the suspects kicked the door down, as well as a second door inside the house,” Johannesburg metro police department spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said.

He said the men abducted the child after realising security guards had arrived at the house.

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According to a TimesLIVE report, the two men threatened to harm the baby if the security guards entered the house.

“They called for backup. The suspects, armed with knives, abducted the homeowner’s baby and ran towards the Jukskei River. An Uber driver witnessed the two suspects carrying a child disappear through the bush towards the river,” said Wahl Bartmann, CEO of Fidelity security company.

Minnaar said the suspects, with the baby, then hijacked a bakkie and drove towards Diepsloot.

“Metro cops near Diepsloot Mall spotted a white Toyota double cab driving at high speed. The bakkie then crashed into a ditch at R511 and Plum Street.”

“Officers then saw members of Diepsloot community attacking the two male occupants.”

The men were immediately arrested and detained at Diepsloot police station.

It was then that police discovered that the two men had escaped from Leeuwkop prison, where they were serving murder sentences of 10 and 30 years. Correctional services were called to fetch the suspects.

Minnaar added that the father of the kidnapped child then fetched her and took her to a hospital.

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