In our efforts to combat crime through proactive policing, SAPS members attached to Worcester Visible Policing and K9 Unit acted swiftly and arrested two armed ATM robbers in the early hours of this morning (Monday, 2018-10-22).
On 2018-10-22 at about 01:40 an ATM at Clinic Street De Doorns East was bombed by an unknown device during which an undisclosed amount of cash was taken. The safe was removed and the suspects fled in a light gold Toyota Avanza with Mercedes Benz wheel caps on it. The registration number on the vehicle used during the commission of the crime was immediately circulated. The suspect fled the scene towards Worcester.
Worcester Visible Policing and K9 Unit spotted the vehicle fitting the description circulated in Worcester and upon noticing the police the vehicle, the suspects sped off towards Zwelentemba. About 200 meters before the intersection at the entrance to Zwelentemba, the suspects’ vehicle was intercepted while members fired shots at it. Five suspects with firearms alighted from the vehicle and fled the scene on foot into Zwelentemba area across an open field.
Two suspects were found in the vehicle and arrested. Inside the vehicle members also recovered the ATM safe and cash. One of the suspects threw out an explosive device on the sidewalk which was then safely removed. A registration plate with number CA 951 608 was found inside the car and it matched the licence disk on the vehicle.
Both arrested suspects aged 21 and 44 are due to appear in the De Doorns Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 23 October 2018.
In an unrelated incident on 2018-10-21, at approximately 00:45, Grabouw police stopped four suspects in their tracks and recovered a hijacked vehicle. Police responded to a complaint of hijacked LDV in Oudebrug and shortly after that there was a housebreaking in progress reported at a business in the area. Police responded to the complaint and a shooting ensued, no injuries were reported. Police spotted the vehicle that matched the description of the hijacked vehicle. They stopped and searched it. A cell phone that belong to the complainant who was hijacked was recovered and other property that are possibly linked to the house breaking at a business premises was found.
Four suspects aged between 21 and 40 years old were arrested and once they are charged for hijacking and house breaking they are expected to appear in the Grabouw Magistrate’s Court.
The Western Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General KE Jula in both cases commended the members of both police precincts and also the other forces who assisted and ensured that these suspects were arrested and the stolen property and cash recovered.
Swift response by SAPS members leads to the arrest of armed ATM robbers in Worcester https://t.co/gbOsppqTSX #ArriveAlive #ATMRobbers pic.twitter.com/kBiX9VaRRH
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) October 23, 2018