Special team set up after escape
A special task team has been set up by the Gauteng police commissioner to probe the escape of two prisoners on Tuesday afternoon.
A special team has been set up to probe the escape of two prisoners after a police van was ambushed in Atteridgeville on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng said the team would examine the circumstances of the escape and seek to determine the whereabouts of the escapees.
The police van carrying 11 prisoners from the Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court to the Kgosi Mampuru II prison, was ambushed by five men in a maroon vehicle.
After overpowering the police driving the prisoners, the men armed with pistols and rifles, picked the locked into the back of the van and released two prisoners.
“Two court orderlies were transporting the 11 prisoners on Tuesday afternoon,” Mofokeng said.
“A maroon sedan blocked their path in Matshiga Street, Atteridgeville, and the officers were held at gunpoint.”
The ambushers apparently took the keys of the van with them.
The two freed prisoners were Abram Matombo (36) and Bethuel Fosi (25). Matombo was arrested for armed robbery and Fosi for theft.
Earlier reports that one of the escapees was arrested in connection with the killing of a Laudium police officer, Constable Ronald Baloyi, have been disputed by police.
Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Lesetja Mothiba said every effort would be made to rearrest the two escapees.
Many hours had been invested in their arrest and that a new charge, escaping from lawful custody, would be added to the crimes they already faced.
“If the investigative teams finds that our members [court orderlies] were negligent, they will be held accountable,” Mothiba said.
Mofokeng warned the public against confronting the escapees because they were dangerous.
If you have any information about the escapees, call Crime Stop at 0860010111 or SMS Crime Line 32211.
Also read:
Suspected cop killer allegedly escapes
Laudium cop shot and killed in Atteridgeville
Two held over Laudium officer’s killing
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