Suspect out on bail rearrested

An out-on-bail 38-year-old suspect with a litany of criminal offences to his name, has been arrested in connection with a cash-in-transit robbery at Belmont Centre, Van Riebeeck Road, Kraaifontein, on Friday afternoon.

Three armed robbers stormed the centre while cash-in-transit guards had been loading cash into an automated teller machine (ATM), robbed them of an undisclosed amount of cash and their firearms, and fled the scene, said Captain Lloyd Ramovha, the spokesman for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), in a statement.

No shots were fired, no injuries were sustained and approximately five suspects were involved.

The four others are still at large. Evidence on the scene led the Hawks Cash-In-Transit Unit to Bigaba Street in Wallacedene, where an Opel bakkie fitting the description of one of the getaway vehicles was found abandoned, Captain Ramovha said.

The vehicle had been hijacked earlier this month in Lwandle, Strand. Further information let the unit to La Boheme Road, Wallacedene, where a second getaway vehicle, a VW Caravelle, had been abandoned.

The City’s law enforcement agency had already been on the scene, Captain Ramovha said, and had arrested a 38-year-old who had tried to escape on foot earlier when they found him next to the vehicle.

Captain Ramovha said the suspect, who had been out on bail, is also currently facing a slew of other criminal cases, including two counts of murder, attempted murder as well as another ATM robbery.

“His accomplices are still at large, and we urge members of the public not to confront them as they are considered armed and dangerous, but to merely report their whereabouts to authorities.

“The investigation continues. All possible leads (are) being followed,” Captain Ramovha said.

The suspect was expected to appear at Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on Monday June 20 to face charges of armed robbery with aggravating circumstances.