EMPD officers turn down R15k bribe, arrest four suspected copper thieves
In another story, police discovered a stolen heavy-duty double trailer tipper truck and arrested the driver.
No-nonsense EMPD officers turned down a R15 000 bribe from four suspects believed to be involved in the rampant copper cable thefts crippling City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) electricity infrastructure.
On September 2, while members of the EMPD Overload unit were conducting routine patrols, they intercepted a white Toyota Quantum with two male occupants, on the N12 in Boksburg.
According to CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, officers stopped the suspicious vehicle after noticing that it had no licence disc.
However, upon further investigation, they found 190.5kg of suspected stolen copper worth about R30 000 in the vehicle.
The driver reportedly failed to produce a driver’s licence and neither occupants had any form of ID.
The two men, aged between 28 and 44, asked the officers if they can contact the owner of the Quantum to bring the vehicle’s papers and were granted this request.
“Thereafter, two men arrived and claimed to be the owners of the vehicle. They approached the officers and offered a bribe of R15 000, requesting the officers to turn a blind eye and let them go.”
However, all four were arrested and taken to Boksburg North SAPS.
Expected to appear in Boksburg Magistrate’s Court soon, they are facing charges of bribery and corruption, possession of suspected stolen copper cable and contravening the Immigration Act.
Stolen double-trailer tipper truck found in Boksburg
In Reiger Park, in the early hours of August 29, members of the Gauteng Traffic Police and Gauteng Traffic Wardens discovered a stolen heavy-duty double trailer tipper truck and arrested the driver.
While information remains sketchy, the Gauteng Department of Community Safety stated in a Facebook post that it was during the early hours that observant officers noticed the truck, escorted by a Mercedes-Benz, entering a veld with its lights off.
The officers followed the vehicles and attempted to stop them but the suspects in the Mercedes-Benz abandoned their vehicle and fled on foot into the veld.
Officers did, however, arrest the driver of the truck.
Upon inspection, it was discovered that the trailers had been hijacked in Mpumalanga.
