Serial robber arrested

According to police, they received a complaint about a suspicious vehicle on the corner of Newick Road and Nowkle Place in Savoy. Police went to investigate and found a man sitting in a blue Mazda 5.

Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Moses Maphakela said when the police asked the man who the owner of the car was, he told them that it was his car. Maphakela said, “But when the police verified the registration number of the car, they found out that it was stolen during a business robbery in Sandton in September last year.”

He said the police decided to search the both the vehicle and the suspect, and found two firearms on the man. Maphakela said the guns were a black 38 special revolver with the serial number filed off and with six rounds of ammunition, while the other gun was a silver 9mm pistol, also with the serial number filed off and 13 rounds in one magazine.

“When he was questioned about the firearms he failed to provide an answer,” Maphakela said. Police arrested him for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, and a stolen vehicle.

Maphakela also said that when police profiled him, he was linked to numerous criminal cases. These included a business robbery in Sandton last year, house robberies in Parkwiew and Randburg in December 2013 while using the stolen Mazda 5. He said the suspect also had a pending case of fraud from last year, traffic fines from 2013 and a charge of driving under the influence of liquor in 2012. He was also found guilty of being in possession of stolen property in November 2004. The suspect is due to appear at Alexandra Magistrate’s Court. Meanwhile, the firearms were sent to Pretoria for ballistic tests.