BASSONIA – An investigation turned life-threatening on March 17 for two reporters from the CHRONICLE and Alberton RECORD at the suspected chop shop in Bassonia.
The reporters had gone to the residence on Basroyd Drive after receiving phone calls from a woman who claimed to be a tenant at the house.
The house was raided by CID detectives and the SAPS Dog Unit on March 7, acting on a tip from a suspected hijacker.
The woman said she had called hoping to get the contact numbers of the officer in charge of the raid to report the damage caused by the detectives who conducted the search at the residence.
“We’re new in Johannesburg and we have been renting from this guy,” said the woman. “We were out when the police were here and we have a trunk at the bottom floor of the house that is broken. The trunk was left open and the rain has damaged the property inside.”
The unknown woman also alleges that they hadn’t seen the man suspected of running the chop shop operation, since CID detectives were at the house. They have no knowledge of whether the man had been arrested. She said her landlord was not often present at the residence and that the tenants hardly encountered him.
However, the contact number provided by the woman was found to be not valid. When the alleged tenant called the CHRONICLE for the second time on March 17, she said that there had been unknown people coming to the residence on Basroyd Drive, allegedly moving the vehicles suspected to be stolen and some hijacked.
That was when the two reporters went to the residence to investigate the woman’s claims and meet her face to face.
At the residence, after minutes of calling out the woman’s name outside the gate of the suspected chop shop residence, a half-naked man came running out, screaming violently at the reporters. Before the man came out, the reporters noticed that the vehicles had been moved from their positions as previously found at the raid.
“What are you doing here, what pictures are you taking here,” he shouted repeatedly, giving the reporters no opportunity to respond as the man swiftly approached the gate with rage in his eyes, causing the reporters to retreat.
It is suspected that the woman calling the newspaper claiming to be a tenant, may be untruthful about who she actually is and the reasons for her call.
During the raid on March 7 the CID police found a number of luxury vehicles, parked and stripped at the residence, including a Mercedes, BMW and Porsche.
In the place where a black BMW, which had traces of blood inside, had been parked, was a vehicle that was covered with a canvass car cover. Where the Mercedes had been parked, now stood an Audi TT.
Mondeor SAPS Communications Officer Constable Mnguni revealed to the CHRONICLE that detectives from Laanglagte Police Station conducted the raid, which is why the Mondeor SAPS and local community patrolling officers were left out of the loop when the raid was conducted.
