IN an unlikely incident, Wentworth police recently arrested a suspect, with an unlicensed firearm, at the station on Friday night, 23 August.
Captain Lawrence Lottering, Constable Graham Mei and Constable Sithembiso Ngema among others were on duty that night when two women and one man ran in fear of the lives into the charge office. The officers quickly attended to the complainants who were in hysterics and soon realised that three were being followed by a vehicle that had entered the police station’s premises shortly after them. “The driver jumped out of the vehicle and approached the complainants, accusing them of attempting to open false charges against him while further threatening them,” said Capt Lottering.
Lottering told the aggravated driver of the vehicle that he had no right to threaten or confront the complainants who went to the station for assistance and protection and further called for the vehicle that he was driving, carrying two other passengers to be searched. “Myself and the other members on duty conducted a search on the vehicle as well as the suspects. During the search, one of my constables found a 38 revolver firearm with six rounds of ammunition concealed in the jeans of the male who had been seated in the passenger seat. The suspect tried to retaliate but the officers used the necessary force to apprehend him and brought him into the charge offices where he was charged for the possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition, which was also seized,” said Lottering.
According to Wentworth police spokesperson, Captain Mbuso Gumede, it was also discovered upon further investigations that the mentioned firearm had been reported stolen from its owner during a robbery in a previous case in Verulam. The apprehended 20 year old suspect, who is also a second-time offender, appeared at Wentworth Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 26 August and was remanded back in custody at Wentworth police station for seven days for further investigation
“We have had a lot of shootings and acts of violence in the area and we want to see if the firearm may have been used in the recent crimes perpetrated,” said Lottering. The firearm will, therefore, be subjected to ballistic testing to ascertain if it was used in any of the pending cases in the Wentworth police precinct and its surroundings.
The community is encouraged to report illegal activities or to come forward with any helpful information that may be of assistance in pending investigations or help combat the crime that plagues Wentworth. “Crime affects everyone, therefore, it is important to report it when you see it happening in your area. Let us fight crime together and be the eyes and ears of the police. Information given will be treated as confidential,” said Gumede.
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