TWO hijackers involved in an armed robbery at Glen Balad Mall in Glen Marais on Thursday were arrested after a shoot out on the N1 highway.
One of the suspects was slightly injured when he was hit by a truck on the highway trying to escape from police.
According to Kempton Park SAPS spokesman, Capt Jethro Mtshali, the hijacking took place at about 9am at the centre. A British American Tobacco truck was hijacked by two men in a silver VW Polo as it arrived to deliver cigarettes at Pick n Pay in the centre. The suspects allegedly forced the truck driver to drive to Hardekool Street in Glen Marais where they offloaded the goods into a waiting Quantam before making a run for it.
According to Lt Col Lungelo Dlamini, the boxes of cigarettes were loaded into the Quantum with an unknown number of suspects. Both vehicles then drove away.
The truck driver alerted the police and a description of the vehicles were circulated. The Golf was spotted in Rabie Ridge and was chased to the Old Pretoria Road and Maxwell Drive intersection in Woodmead. There one hijacker jumped out of the vehicle and shot at a Gauteng Flying Squad member. He shot back from inside his vehicle.
His accomplice also jumped out and tried to hijack a black Jeep but he crashed it into a bridge.
In the process, a police chopper had already joined the chase and the suspects abandoned the Jeep and ran away on foot. One of the men was hit by a truck as he ran over the highway. He was slightly injured. Both men were arrested.
No one else was injured, Dlamini said. A police vehicle was damaged in the shoot out.
The suspects who were driving in the Quantum are still at large. About R30 000 worth of cigarettes were stolen.
The arrested suspects will be charged with armed robbery, attempted murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm when they appear in Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court today or on Monday.
An unlicensed R5 rifle was recovered.
