Residents and security faced off in a shootout with two robbers in Radiokop on 14 July at 1am.
Patrolmen from Radiokop Patrol Initiative (PI) called for back-up on Opera Road as four male suspects were jumping fences. The men had fled by the time of inspection. Later, in the early hours of the morning, JP Pretorius, PI control manager said, “I returned home and heard the suspects jumping and cutting fences as they went from house to house.” He added that the patrol unit gave chase to the suspects.
Residents in the area alerted Londoloza and Honeydew Police. Londoloza patrolmen Alex Makwitini responded to the call on Melody Street and Lucky Hlope took Opera Street. Pretorius said, “During the chase the suspects started shooting at us, at this point Londoloza Tactical Unit had arrived and began returning fire.”
Spokesperson for Londoloza Danielle Dooley said, “Makwitini found the four suspects at the gate of the property, the suspects immediately started shooting at him. He then took cover behind the perimeter wall and returned fire.”
The incident continued for some time while the suspects jumped fences from house to house.
A resident on Octave Street in Radiokop woke up to loud sounds of glass breaking. On his inspection, four male suspected robbers were in his house. According to Pretorius and Dooley, the resident shouted at them and they fired shots at him. He returned fire. The men dropped a TV and a laptop while fleeing the scene.
After much confusion and a large-scale team effort between security companies and police, two of the four suspects were arrested. Honeydew acting station commander Colonel Toby Terblanche confirmed that a case of housebreaking and possession of ammunition has been opened. “Two suspects have been arrested and will appear in court soon.” There were no injuries reported.
