A high speed car chase led to a violent shootout with Goodwood police where five suspects were arrested.
Goodwood police spokesperson Captain Wayne Theunis confirmed the incident took place on Wednesday March 31, at about 11pm.
The Western Cape Flying Squad were patrolling in Goodwood and when they spotted a Chevrolet Orlando with five suspicious looking suspects.
“The members attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the driver ignored them and sped off at a high speed, skipping past stop signs and traffic lights,” said Captain Theunis.
During the chase the suspects opened fire on the squad who then retaliated.
“On the corners of Wiener Street and Milton Road the driver lost control of the Chevrolet and the suspects were arrested. Four were wounded and taken to the hospital under police guard.”
Two 9mm firearms that were thrown out of the vehicle during the chase were recovered and had no serial numbers.
“Ammunition as well a vehicle that was reported stolen in Muizenberg were confiscated.”
The suspects sustained numerous gunshot wounds during the shoot-out and one of them was reported to be in a critical condition.
“The three others were in a serious to moderate condition. The men were treated and provided with pain-relief medication before being transported to a provincial hospital for further care. Local authorities were on the scene for further investigations,” said ER24 communications officer Russel Meiring.
The suspects will appear in Goodwood Magistrate’s Court on charges, which include attempted murder, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, two counts of possession of prohibited firearms and ammunition as well as reckless and negligent driving.
According to Leona van Wyk, member of Goodwood Neighbourhood Watch, the level of crime in the area has spiked over the past few weeks with the majority of robberies occurring during the daytime.
“We’re seeing theft of motor vehicles, theft from motor vehicles and on a daily basis there’s hubcaps being stolen. There’s also house break-ins, attempted house break-ins and its really spiking.”
When asked what some of the crime hot-spots in Goodwood were, she said: “The places where we have the most cases are between Jakes Gerwel and Vasco Boulevard. The most common crime we’ve noticed is theft from motor vehicles where they’re stealing contents out of the car or even stealing car batteries.”
She said the neighbourhood watch has increased their patrols in light of the recent crime surge.
“We now have patrollers that are out nearly for the whole night but Goodwood is a big area. So we definitely need more members because you can never have enough eyes and ears on the road. There’s also too many people still walking around during curfew.”
Contact Ms Van Wyk at 083 713 5550 or leevanwyk@telkomsa.net for more information.