Truck ‘jackers’ come up short

9 September 2019  

The suspects were among 129 arrests made during various operations in the last week. Apart from drunk driving arrests, officers also clamped down on illegal street racing, and recovered numerous stolen items and dangerous weapons.

‘We had to amend our operations in the last week, particularly Cape Town Traffic, as a result of the many protest marches and gatherings that required road closures and traffic management. In spite of this, the arrest statistics are very encouraging. Many of the Metro Police successes came from visible policing and patrols, which speaks to the effectiveness of boots on the ground. However, as with all of our operational successes, much rests on the handling of the cases by the criminal justice system,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

METRO POLICE DEPARTMENT

Metro Police officers arrested 97 suspects – 64 for drunk driving and 33 more for various other crimes.

On Friday 6 September 2019, the Metro Police Property Crime and Gang and Drug Task Team arrested three suspects for the possession of stolen goods and being accomplices to a hijacking. Members received a tip off the day before from a vehicle tracking company regarding a courier truck that had been hijacked in Kleinmond with goods valued at R3 million. They teamed up with the tracking company and followed up on a lead to an industrial area in Parow. Upon arrival, they found the hijacked truck in Boulevard Street.

The driver of the truck, who was later arrested for being involved in the robbery, pointed out a nearby storage facility where the goods had been offloaded. Officers searched the premises and recovered two items valued at R10 000 and identified as the property of the transport company. The rest of the stolen goods had already been moved. Further investigation revealed the driver had communicated with the hijackers prior to the alleged hijacking. He was arrested for being an accomplice, while a second man was arrested on the premises for the possession of stolen goods.

As the officers left the premises they spotted a suspicious looking vehicle approaching the storage facility. When they searched the vehicle, they found Khat to the value of R500 and six 9mm rounds of ammunition in the driver’s possession.

Officers also recovered two firearms in Manenberg and Heideveld.

Just before 5a.m. on Sunday morning, officers on patrol in Manenberg saw a group of men loitering on a street corner. They ran when they saw the officers, and one of them was seen throwing something into a yard. Officers recovered a 9mm pistol and 13 rounds of ammunition. They arrested a 29-year-old suspect.

In Heideveld on Saturday morning, Metro Police officers chased down a suspect who pointed a gun at them. They recovered a CZ85 pistol without a serial number and 14 rounds of ammunition, and arrested the 37-year-old man.

In other Metro Police successes:

- Officers rounded up three suspects in a stolen cellphone case and recovered the device. They witnessed two suspects grabbing a motorist’s cellphone along Stellenbosch Arterial on Friday and followed them to Delft, where they were taken into custody. By that time, the suspects had already passed the phone on to someone else to sell. Officers went to the Bellville taxi rank, where they traced the phone to a suspect who had bought it for R800. He was arrested for possession of stolen goods when officers found the phone in his possession.

- On Tuesday, 3 September, Metro Police officers attached to the Camera Response Unit came across a crying motorist at the N1 and Monte Vista Boulevard. She indicated that she had been threatened by a taxi driver who broke her side mirror with a wheel spanner. Officers went off in search of the taxi, and stopped the vehicle along the N1 near Sable Road. The 36-year-old driver was arrested for malicious damage to property and intimidation.

- In Philippi, officers saw two men running across a field, one with a handbag in his possession. They also spotted a woman who appeared in distress, confirming their suspicion that they were onto a robbery in progress. Officers tracked down the suspects hiding in the bathroom of a nearby house. They had in their possession a handbag, knife and imitation firearm. The suspects, aged 23 and 29, were detained at Philippi SAPS, where it emerged that one had recently been released from prison after serving time for murder.

CAPE TOWN TRAFFIC SERVICE

Cape Town Traffic officers arrested 35 suspects, impounded 55 vehicles and issued 4 947 fines for various other offences.

In an illegal street operation in the Milnerton/Plattekloof/Crawford/Prince George Drive areas, officers arrested nine suspects – seven for reckless and negligent driving, one for false temporary plates and one for hindering and obstructing an officer in the execution of their duties.

A second operation in the Athlone/Mitchells Plain areas on Saturday 7 September, resulted in 21 arrests – 17 for drunk driving and four for reckless and negligent driving.

Issued by JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, City of Cape Town, 9 September 2019