SAPS Mount Road detectives arrested a suspect allegedly involved in a business robbery within hours after the robbery was reported on Saturday, July 13.
According to police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg, it is alleged that at approximately 16:55, two suspects wearing masks entered a petrol station on Cape Road in Newton Park and threatened the cashier with a firearm.
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She said an undisclosed amount of cash and 70 packets of cigarettes were taken.
During the robbery, the panic button was activated, and, upon the arrival of the private security company, the suspects jumped into a white VW Polo and drove off in the direction of Cotswold,” she reported.
“The driver of the vehicle lost control and landed in bushes on Highfield Road.
“They alighted and fled,” Janse van Rensburg explained.
“During further investigation, it was alleged that the vehicle was hijacked on Saturday, July 13, at approximately 17:45 at the corners of Mati and Uitenhage Roads in New Brighton, and that the complainant was busy opening a case at SAPS New Brighton,” Janse van Rensburg added.
“SAPS Mount Road members went to New Brighton and requested the complainant in the hijacking and his friend to accompany them to SAPS Mount Road for further investigation,” she revealed.
“During the investigation, the 38-year-old friend was positively identified as one of the suspects involved in the robbery, and was arrested and detained on charges of business robbery,” she revealed.
“The VW Polo, cigarettes that were taken during the robbery and an empty firearm magazine were confiscated.”
The suspect will appear in the Gqeberha magistrate court on Monday, July 15.
