Gang suspect nabbed
2003-08-09 12:44
Johannesburg - A member of a gang of four who held up a satellite police station in Noordgesig south of Johannesburg on Friday night, was arrested soon afterwards when he allegedly fired at a patron in a nearby tavern.
Inspector Richard Luvhengo of Soweto said the four men inveigled their way into a satellite station housed in a caravan in Noordgesig on the pretext they wanted to report a hijacking.
The men, who were all armed, held up two police inspectors and took an R5 rifle and a pistol. The men then disappeared.
Less than an hour later police received a report of a shooting in a nearby tavern. Officers from the Orlando station responded. The patron who complained he had been shot at, pointed to another man and held him responsible for the shooting in the tavern. He was arrested.
One of the inspectors at Noordgesig said the same man had been part of the gang which held up the inspectors at the satellite station. "He identified him without doubt," said Luvhengo.
The man is being questioned. He was not armed when arrested. However, Luvhengo said he was hoping the man would help them discover the whereabouts of the missing weapons and the other members of the gang.
- SAPA