Police bust six for business robbery
|Published
Police in Vredenburg have arrested six armed robbers hours after they pounced on a business.
Police launched a manhunt for the suspects after a call came through about the robbery at a grocery store on Main toad, Western Cape spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said in a statement late on Thursday.
He said reports indicated that two of the suspects, carrying firearms, entered the store while the rest of the group waited outside. Inside the shop, the two threatened the store manager and a security guard and held them hostage in a small room, demanding money.
A security guard outside the store became suspicious and pushed the panic alarm and within minutes police and members of the K9 unit responded to the incident.
“The suspects, whilst fleeing the scene fired several shots at the police, who in turn returned fire. The suspects fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and cellular telephones. Nobody was injured during the shoot-out however police and civilian vehicles were damaged,” van Wyk said.
The two armed suspects then hijacked an elderly man of his Toyota Camry at gunpoint at a grocery store in Louwville and fled in the direction of Steve Tshwete. The vehicle was later found abandoned at the railway tracks.
One firearm was recovered on the corners of Velddriff road and School street and the other firearm at the old tourism office in Main road.
Van Wyk said officers received information that the suspects were hiding at different houses on Sink street in Ongegund, followed up and searched all the houses which were pointed out to them.
The suspects aged between 21 and 35 were arrested at different houses in the area. Once charged, they will appear in the Vredenburg magistrate’s court.
ANA