A systematic and comprehensive involvement of stakeholders in the fight against crime gained success. This became evident when collaborative efforts of the police and farmers in Vryburg and Pudimoe Clusters resulted in the arrest five suspects for armed robbery on Saturday, 21 October 2017 in Vryburg.
The suspects’ arrest emanated from an incident in which a cash in transit security vehicle was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash in Vryburg.
According to information available at this stage, security officials were collecting cash from a business in Vryburg at about 12:45 when the suspects driving in a BMW stopped close to the security vehicle. The suspects allegedly opened fire on the security officials.
The driver of the security vehicle allegedly rammed into the BMW, but the suspects managed to flee the scene with a container containing an undisclosed amount of cash.
The police stations in both Pudimoe and Vryburg clusters were alerted about the incident. The farming community’s neighborhood watch also assisted police to search for the suspicious vehicle. Later, the same afternoon a suspicious Toyota Corolla was spotted on gravel road in the vicinity of Amalia.
The police ultimately stopped the vehicle and questioned all five occupants. The latter then directed the police to a farm, close to Vryburg where a search was conducted. During the search, the BMW that was allegedly used during the cash in transit robbery was found. All five suspects aged between 27 and 50 were arrested.
They are expected to appear in the Vryburg Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 23 October 2017. Investigation into the matter continues and more arrests are imminent.
The North West Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane commended the police and the farmers for their cooperation that led to the arrest of the suspects. She said that the arrest is significant considering numerous incidents of robberies involving cash in transit vehicles that occurred at various places in the province recently.
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