Eight men arrested in connection with a violent shoot-out with police and security officers in Centurion are back on the street after being released on a court technicality.

Pretoria Rekord received a tip-off that a high-ranking provincial police officer allegedly went to the station and personally claimed the docket, after which the suspects were released.

The suspects, who appeared in the Pretoria court on October 31, were initially facing armed robbery charges.

Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed yesterday that not only did the court release the suspects on a technicality, but that the investigating officer has since applied for a warrant of arrest to have them taken back into custody.

The group was arrested last week Tuesday, after a business in Sunderland Ridge, Centurion, was hit during an armed robbery that ended in a shoot-out with security personnel along the R55 near Raslouw.

The robbers loaded the stock into a truck and drove off, escorted by a Kia vehicle.

Nevhuhulwi said security was alerted, and they traced the truck and the vehicle on the R55 road near Raslouw in the Wierdabrug policing precinct.

Shots were fired between security personnel and suspects.

Nevhuhulwi said that in the process, one suspect and a security guard sustained gunshot injuries.

“The police were called during the shooting, and eight suspects, including the injured one, have since been arrested. Two firearms, the truck and the vehicle were also seized for further investigations,” he said at the time.

A Centurion security officer, Monitor Net’s JP Le Roux, survived the shoot-out.

According to Monitor Net’s GM, Paul Gerber, the bullet that was fired and hit Le Roux was found inside his bulletproof vest and was stuck inside the ballistic plate.

He was transferred to the Unitas trauma unit, where it was established that he sustained minor injuries.

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