According to Boksburg SAPS spokesperson Sgt Cebisa Maseko, the officers were in a food outlet at the shopping centre, waiting for their orders, when they were alerted by someone who had noticed a man trying to steal the car.
“The officers intervened, and that’s when the suspect jumped out of the car he was trying to steal and fled. He got into a BMW with two other men and the car sped off,” Maseko said.
“The officers, who were using a marked EMPD vehicle and an unmarked vehicle, acted swiftly. They got into their two vehicles and pursued the suspects in high-speed chase down Trichardts Road towards the R554.”
While being pursued, the suspects apparently lost control of the BMW, rolling it and ending up in the veld on the corner of Trichardts Road and the R554.
Two suspects were then arrested. The third suspect, believed to be the one who was spotted in the car they tried to steal, managed to evade arrest.
The two men will soon appear in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on a charge of attempted motor vehicle theft. Further charges may be added.
Maseko said police are investigating whether the suspects can be linked to other cases where cars were stolen or hijacked at Sunward Park Lifestyle Centre and surrounding areas.
* The Boksburg police invite members of the public to a crime awareness event at Sunward Park Lifestyle Centre between 10am and 2pm on December 1.
The event is aimed at making shoppers aware of crimes such as theft of and theft out of motor vehicles, follow-home robberies (especially from banks) and scamsters and fraudsters targeting unsuspecting shoppers.-@FanieFLK
