GAUTENG – Three armed men between the ages of 28 and 43 are expected to appear at the Atteridgeville Magistrates Court on Tuesday for alleged conspiracy to commit a cash-in-transit heist over the weekend.
The trio was nabbed during a joint intelligence-driven operation by the Hawks’ National Bureau of Illegal Firearms Control and Priority Violent Crimes (NBIFCPVC), Technical Operation Management System (TOMS) and Tshwane TRT following a tipoff regarding an alleged planned armed robbery at a local fuel station in Atteridgeville on Sunday.
The team kept surveillance of an occupied suspicious vehicle that was parked in the vicinity of the fuel station. The suspects drove away when they noticed that they were being observed prompting a chase by the team and a consequent shoot-out that resulted in one suspect and a bystander sustaining injuries.
The trio was subsequently apprehended and are to face charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition as well as possession of a vehicle that was reported stolen in Bedfordview during 2018. Investigation to determine whether the trio can be linked to other armed robberies is underway.