Bogus cops abduct and rob nurse

Three men posed as cops to lure an unsuspecting nurse into a nightmarish ordeal in which she was abducted and robbed at gunpoint.

While the nurse did not mind relating her story, she asked that her name not be published, as two of the men who attacked her are still at large.

“I was in the Newcastle CBD about a month ago to make arrangements for my sister’s funeral,” began the nurse, who lives in Dundee.

“I began by making a withdrawal at ABSA on Voortrekker Street and was walking to the Newcastle Provincial Hospital to visit a friend before heading to Avbob, when a man fell into step beside me,” she said.

The stranger who began walking alongside the nurse said he was also heading to the Newcastle Provincial Hospital and after revealing that he was a Shembe, praised the nurse for choosing to wear a long skirt, as pants were not considered appropriate attire for women of the Shembe faith.

“As we were walking, a silver grey Chevrolet Aveo pulled alongside us and the three occupants of the vehicle produced police badges and claimed that the man I was with was believed to have been involved in a robbery that occurred a short while ago on Scott Street. They insisted that we accompany them to the police station to make statements,” continued the nurse.

Buying into the ruse, the nurse climbed into the car. On the way to the police station, one of the bogus cops pretended to be engaged in a telephone conversation with a colleague.

“I heard him ask if the other suspect was in the Industrial area and then inform the person on the line that he was on his way there. I asked to be dropped off at the police station so that I could make my statement and continue with the funeral arrangements I had planned to make. When they refused to stop at the police station, it dawned on me that I was being abducted.”

Confronted with the truth, the men produced a gun and demanded the nurse’s cell phone, money and iPad. They also used her ATM cards to withdraw her maximum daily limit from both ABSA and Nedbank, before releasing her in Ncandu Park.

“The men dropped me off alongside the road and told me to walk toward a nearby tree without turning back. When I was sure they were gone, I approached a passer-by for help and contacted a friend to fetch me and take me to the police station, where I reported the incident.”

A couple of weeks later, the nurse observed the car that she had been abducted in, jotted down the registration number, and took it to the investigating officer, who told her there was nothing he could do with just a registration number.“I remember everything about the interior of that vehicle, the chain that was dangling from the review mirror, the Shembe stickers inside, the upholstery… everything! So, I was certain that it was the same car. The next time I saw the car was last week, while I was working at an outreach clinic in the Wasbank area. This time I recognised the car and the occupants. I observed the car travel to Dundee and stop outside the Spar and then I called the police and told them where the men were. That’s how they were caught. However, only two of them were in the vehicle at the time, the other two are still at large.”