Cops robbed of guns, locked in own van
Three men were arrested after they allegedly
disarmed two police officers and locked them in the back of their police van in
Rabie Ridge, north of Johannesburg, Gauteng police said on Wednesday.
The police officers were allegedly approached by
four people while they were eating lunch at a food outlet around 15:00 on
Tuesday, Brigadier Neville Malila said. The suspects pointed a firearm at the
officers, disarmed them, and locked them in the back of their patrol vehicle.
The suspects fled with the officers' firearms, he said.
The assailants, who were joined by three others,
hijacked a vehicle and fled. People in the area helped free the officers from
the vehicle and police gave chase. "The suspects lost control of their
vehicle and fired several shots at the police who returned fire," Malila
said.
Three people were arrested and three firearms were
seized from them. Two of the firearms were those robbed from the police
officers and the third had been linked to an incident where Johannesburg metro
police officers were shot at and robbed in September.
The three, between the ages of 25 and 30, would
appear in the Tembisa Magistrate's Court soon on charges of attempted murder,
armed robbery, hijacking, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
Police were searching for the other suspects.
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