Central man arrested for impersonating a police officer denied bail
The fake cop was busted trying to extort a pub in CBD.
In a spate of successes, the Pretoria Central Saps recently arrested a 35-year-old man believed to have been impersonating a police officer.
After appearing at the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Monday, the man was denied bail following further investigations into the matter.
The operations took place on May 5 and 6. The phoney cop was arrested in a pub on the corner of Bloed and Lillian Ngoyi Street trying to extort the owner.
“According to the information received, the accused went into the pub and informed them that the station would be hosting an operation on the evening of Sunday the 5th of May, he further produced a fraudulent appointment card and demanded cash. The owner immediately alerted the police about a fictitious cop, later that evening the man came to collect the demanded cash and he was cornered and arrested on the spot,” said Central police spokesperson, Constable Thabang Nkhumise.
After searching him, the fraudulent card was recovered in his wallet with a picture of the man.
Other arrests made during the two-day operation included five suspects for possession of an illegal substance, two suspects for driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol, one suspect for burglary at a business premises, one suspect for theft and four suspects for shoplifting.
A further two male suspects were arrested on separate occasions for destroying, damaging and tempering with essential infrastructure.
“A number of panel steels worth thousands were confiscated from a suspect on the corner of Pretorius and Paul Kruger streets. Another suspect was arrested for tampering with electricity cables at Lillian Ngoyi and Visagie Street in an attempt to make an illegal connection,” Nkhumise continued.
Station commander Brigadier Gibin Hlengane Mashaba welcomed the arrests and thanked the community for assisting police in addressing crime in the inner city.
“It is of the utmost importance that the community work closely with the police to ensure that crime is limited in the city. I would encourage residents to continue to report crimes whenever they occur and I thank the crime prevention team for their visibility and determination,” said Mashaba.
All suspects appeared in the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Monday.
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