COOKHOUSE – Two detainees who escaped from lawful custody last week have been re-arrested within 60 hours after their escape.
SAPS members on duty at the Cookhouse Police Station discovered the escape on Thursday evening, 4 December, at approximately 21:20, after a member of the public reported a robbery and identified Atshaxole Booi (23) as the suspect.
Booi was detained in the Cookhouse police holding cells for various serious crimes.
Upon inspection of the cells, the members discovered that two detainees, Booi and Patrick Njokweni (34), had escaped from lawful custody.
SAPS opened a case of escaping from lawful custody and launched a manhunt for the two escapees.
A second case of aiding and abetting was also opened for investigation.
According to Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli, spokesperson for SAPS in the Sarah Baartman District, SAPS received information about the whereabouts of the two escapees on Friday, 5 December, after which a team of police officers from various policing units was activated.
Nkohli confirmed that this team managed to re-arrest Booi while he was walking in the street in Bedford around 07:40 the following day.
The second escapee, Njokweni was traced and found hiding inside an abandoned house in Bedford around 09:30 on Sunday, 7 December.
The duo appeared in the Cookhouse Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 8 December, on charges ranging from assault to escaping from lawful custody.
A request for an update on the status of the cases against them was submitted to the spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Eastern Cape, Luxolo Tyali, and will be published as soon as it is received.
