Two cops in dock for allegedly stealing money bag while guarding abandoned heist vehicle

Two officers are expected to appear in the dock of the Somerset West Magistrate’s Court on Friday after they were arrested for allegedly stealing a money bag while guarding an abandoned heist getaway vehicle in Cape Town.

Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut said the police officers had been sent to guard the getaway vehicle after the robbery on the N2 on September 2.

The robbers had abandoned the vehicle as well as the money bags in Harare, Khayelitsha.

“Our investigation revealed that one of the money bags was taken by the officers,” he said.

The two sergeants were part of SAPS’s major offences reaction team.

The police’s Anti-Corruption Unit arrested them on Tuesday when they reported for duty.

The two officers were also linked to the robbery of a minibus taxi which allegedly transported poached abalone in July, for which three constables, also attached to the major offences reaction team, were arrested last Thursday.

The three were charged with armed robbery, defeating the ends of justice, and kidnapping.

“It is alleged that the members, while performing their official duties in Somerset West, pulled over the driver of a minibus taxi who was illegally transporting poached abalone from Hermanus to Cape Town,” Traut said.

“One of the police members drove the taxi to his residence where the abalone was allegedly offloaded. The driver was dropped off not far from where he was kidnapped and instructed to go back to Hermanus. While walking towards Sir Lowry’s Pass, he discovered his vehicle without the abalone.”

The incident was reported to the police and the investigation led them to the officers.

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