On Tuesday, October 28 at 12.45pm a lady went to the bank to withdraw a sum of R50 000 to purchase building material, little did she know she was about to fall victim to a scam. After the woman made the withdrawal she proceeded to the shopping center of her choice where she would make her purchase. While making her way to the shopping center, the complainant was then distracted by a roll of money thrown in front of her.
An unknown woman then drew near and told the complainant the money was recovered by them both and they should go to a place where there aren’t any distractions to equally share the money. A sliver car then fetched the two females and they then reached a destination in Bank Road to make the alleged cash division there. While sharing the cash, two males approached the women, claiming to be police and snatched the complainant’s handbag before tying her to a nearby pole and fleeing.
While all the above took place the complainant was screaming for help and an alert resident came to her rescue. The resident chased after the suspects. A short while after the chase between the resident and the suspects, the police arrived and arrested the five suspects involved. A grey Chrysler and R29 000 were recovered during the arrest of the suspects.
On Wednesday, October 29 the suspects appeared in the Estcourt Magistrates Court. The woman, who was involved in the crime accompanied by the other four males, pretended to be 17-years-old. That way she would be a minor and wouldn’t be detained for the crime she was involved in. The state smelled a rat; the police conducted an investigation and were told by the accused’s mother that she was in fact 21-years of age. According to a source the lady who was robbed is ‘poor’ and resides in a rural area.
The five suspects are currently held in custody with no bail applications available to them. The police would like to extend their appreciation to the alert resident that took the risk to chase after the suspects. “This is testimony confirming that the community can join hands with the police to fight crime. Similar cases have been reported in the past and we suspect that this is a gang who have been committing these criminal offences,” said police spokesperson Captain JS Sokhela.
