Alleged thief shot in police chase
An alleged thief was wounded during a shootout with police at the weekend.
ONE of four suspected thieves was wounded in a shootout with a Westville SAPS officer at the weekend.
On Saturday, 29 November, Cst Wynand Laatz wounded an alleged thief in a dramatic shootout.
Dawncliffe Westville Community Watch reported on its Facebook page that at 3.25pm on Saturday they received a call from Cst Laatz that he was in pursuit of a blue Toyota Corolla in Maryvale Road that was suspected of house break-in. The car they were driving was stolen in Phoenix.
Just moments after alerting the watch, vehicles from Dawncliffe Westville Community Watch, Jubilee Watch and UVRA were dispatched to assist the officer.
During Cst Laatz’s pursuit, the alleged thieves fired shots at him. He then returned fire, which caused the driver of the car to lose control of the car and crash into bushes along Spine Road.
Dawncliffe Westville Community Watch said the four men escaped on foot into the bushes. SAPS and Metro Police dispatched its K9 units to search for the alleged thieves in and around areas from Spine Road to the Chesterville intersection and the top of the field in Syringa Avenue. All these roads were also closed during the search operation.
One of the alleged thieves was arrested following a three-hour search. He sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to hospital. The other three are still at large.
According to police, the suspect who was arrested has been charged with attempted murder, possession of stolen property and possession of suspected housebreak-in implements.
