Montclair’s super sleuth secure hefty prison sentence
Captain Rico Naidoo together with Sergeants Sifiso Shezi, Bhekumuzi Dlamini and Msizi Msomi were tasked to investigate a spate of serious crimes including the hijacking of vehicles back in 2018.
FOUR Montclair SAPS trio task team members were lauded for their commendable work in securing a successful conviction and sentencing of two hijackers, to 85 and 70 years in prison respectively.
Captain Rico Naidoo together with Sergeants Sifiso Shezi, Bhekumuzi Dlamini and Msizi Msomi were tasked to investigate a spate of serious crimes including the hijacking of vehicles back in 2018.
“Shezi was allocated the docket of one of the incidents. He received information about the suspect and as a team, we went into Lamontville and arrested the suspect and soon arrested a second suspect. Then we later found out that one of the suspects was a late policeman’s son, who used to work at Montclair SAPS years ago. From there the investigation led Shezi and Dlamini to certain places and they discovered that the same modus operandi was used in four other cases. We further got assistance from another station to help us in positively identifying the suspects. Shezi finalised the investigation and the case went to trial. During the trial, the detectives testified in court and were commended for their testimonies by the prosecutor. Msomi also assisted by transporting the witnesses to and from the court, making sure that they felt protected as some felt threatened at some point. These were serious hijacking cases and some of the witnesses went through the trauma of being forced into the boot of a car or held at gunpoint.
“The police members worked any time of the week including the weekend as well as nights if necessary. Once they set their eyes on the target they don’t flinch. We salute these members for taking on this mammoth task and making serious inroads in curbing some the crimes,” said Captain Naidoo.
The two accused were found guilty of five counts of hijacking and the first accused found guilty of an additional sixth count. The pair were sentenced on Wednesday, 17 March.
“The officers used their canny detective skills which were not in vain, as they ploughed all their efforts to appease the victims and arrest those responsible for the hijacking. Various strategies were employed to identify those responsible for committing these crimes. It did not take too long for Montclair’s super sleuth to piece together the modus operandi of the two suspects. Sgts Shezi, Dlamini and Msomi left no stone unturned to effect the arrest of those who conspired to commit this scandalous crime,” said Montclair SAPS communications officer, Derek Vijiam.
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