During the early hours of March 17, members of the Honeydew Police Crime Prevention Unit were involved in a shootout with a gang of robbers in Itsoseng informal settlement near Cosmo City.
At around 02:00 a man was woken up by a gang of five men who kicked open his front door and entered his home. The victim was robbed of various household items at gunpoint. The thugs then brazenly broke into four other backrooms on the property, robbing occupants of TVs and cell phones.
Members of the Crime Prevention Unit arrived on the scene after the robbers had left and began scouring the open veld looking for them. They discovered a fresh foot trail and began following it on foot out of Cosmo City to the adjacent Itsoseng informal settlement. When they approached the property the trail led to, the suspects began shooting at the police officers while attempting to flee. The police returned fire but no one was injured.
Warrant Officer Dave Stanton, Honeydew Police communications officer said two suspects were arrested and all the stolen property was recovered and taken to the Honeydew Police Station. The police also seized housebreaking implements and a pistol with live ammunition that had its serial number filed off. “Our investigating officers are currently investigating whether this gang had been involved in other such criminal activities.”
