Ivory Park man arrested for possession of firearm and ammunition

A 20-year-old man residing in Ivory Park Extension Two is expected to appear in the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court for common robbery and possession of an unlicensed firearm and 15 rounds of live ammunition.

According to the Ivory Park SAPS communications officer, Captain Bernard Matimulane, the firearm was taken from a security officer during a robbery at a supermarket in Kaalfontein on September 16 when this suspect, together with two accomplices, overpowered the security officer during a business robbery and escaped with the firearm.

“The suspect, who may have assumed he wouldn’t be recognised, was seen in the vicinity on Monday by the victim, who then alerted other members of the community. He was followed to his residential place and, when confronted, he denied any knowledge of the robbery. However, when he was searched he was found in possession of the firearm, with the numbers already having been erased,” said Matimulane.

Matimulane added after being notified, the police rushed to the scene and the suspect was promptly arrested.

“The search for the other two accomplices is continuing,” he said.

The station commander of the Ivory Park SAPS, Brigadier David Mbongeni Ngcobo, has praised the manner in which the suspect was tailed, and the fact that the suspect made it to the police cells without being injured, or worse.

“We are glad the firearm that would have been used to inflict terror on the innocent members of the community, will again find its way to its rightful owner,” said Ngcobo.

He further thanked the community for resisting any pressure or resorting to mob justice, as is sometimes the case in situations such as this.