Cop among arrested gang
Rogue cop in blue light gang arrest
16 Apr 2012 | Katlego Moeng
"Officer and three accomplices were ready to rob"
NABBED: Four members of yet another blue light gang were arrested in Katlehong yesterday. Among the four was a Germiston police officer. PHOTO: SIBUSISO MSIBI
THE Police Ministry says that officers involved in crime "must be arrested and face the full might of the law".
This follows the arrest of an Ekurhuleni police officer and three of his alleged accomplices yesterday, apparently minutes before they were about to rob a pyramid scheme business operating from a house in Katlehong.
The officer, reportedly attached to the Germiston public order police, was arrested at about 9am in Mnisi section.
Sowetan has also learnt that one of the suspects is on bail for an alleged heist in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga.
Gauteng police spokeswoman Pinky Tsinyane said yesterday: "We arrested the four suspects while they were surveying the street. They were heard asking the children of a police officer who lives on this street whether their father was home.
"The officer alerted another policeman to check who was asking about him on the street.
"When the alerted officer went out to check the vehicle at the gate, he saw the suspects changing the number plate. He told the others that something was amiss and the police station was called."
Police found an unlicensed 9mm pistol on the men. Police also found their VW Gold 6 fitted with a police radio and a blue light siren.
It also had fake number plates. A fake police appointment letter was also found on one of the suspects.
Such gangs are known as "blue light gangs".
Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa's spokesman Zweli Mnisi said: "Any person who breaks the law must face the full might of the law."
But he was quick to point out that "any person remains innocent until proven guilty by a court of law".
"We must balance this condemnation with the fact that we have within the SAPS thousands of hardworking and dedicated members," said Mnisi.
- In April 2010: Pretoria police arrested a five-man gang, including two Mamelodi police officers at a routine stop-and-search of a vehicle which was found to be illegally fitted with police lights and a siren. One of the five suspects was out on bail for murder, while another had recently been released after serving time for illegal firearms,
- Also in April 2010: Sandton police shot and killed a man and arrested two others after they tried to hijack a motorist, using a blue light and police siren, and;
- In March this year: Members of the Mount Ayliff cluster task team arrested a 27-year-old constable after an investigation into a spate of carjackings in the area. He was reportedly part of a six-man gang.
