Two SAPS officers were arrested in Gauteng for failing to adhere to their functions as the police, breaking the law whilst wearing the blue uniform.
The officers are said to be a detective sergeant from Kempton Park and an administrative police clerk from Springs – they were arrested following an unsuccessful heist in Bryanston just few miles from Sandton, Johannesburg. The arrest took place yesterday, Saturday.
A multi-disciplinary team, inclusive of the national crime intelligence, K9 unit, the Johannesburg Flying Squad and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) responded to the incident after receiving a tip-off prior the execution of a planned business robbery. The targeted place were observed from midday until around 20:00 when an attempt was made.
SAPS spokesperson Brenda Muridili said the police arrived at the target place where they witnessed corrupted police officers arriving in a police bakkie to backup the criminals.
“At about 20:30, the team identified three vehicles driving towards the target place, one of them a marked police bakkie. The suspects got out of the vehicles and the police approached, but then the suspects started shooting at the police. The members returned fire and subsequently arrested eleven (11) suspects, two of them with gunshot wounds on their legs. None of the team members were injured. Three of the police’s vehicles are bullet riddled,” said SAPS spokesperson.
At the time of the arrest, Muridili said, the police seized three firearms; a rifle and two pistols, and two vehicles including the police van.
SAPS spokesperson said the suspects would appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, the 8th day of December on the following charges:-
- Conspiracy to commit robbery
- Attempted murder
- Possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition
- Possession of suspected stolen vehicles, and
- Driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent
The multi-disciplinary team which is also responsible for the arrest of four suspects last Friday, strongly believe that the 11 suspects are segment of a syndicate linked to myriads of robberies in the province, their main target is said to be courier vehicles.