Cape Town – The City of Cape Town’s metro police officers arrested a man earlier yesterday (Friday), after a tip-off about diesel allegedly being sold from an address in Parow Valley.
At approximately 8am, officers visited the premises and found nearly 400 litres of diesel in various containers on the property, with an estimated value of nearly R9 000.
Metro police spokesperson, Ruth Solomons, said the suspect was unable to provide any proof of purchase, nor could he produce any documentation permitting him to deal in diesel.
“The 27-year-old suspect was detained at Parow SAPS on charges of possession of suspected stolen goods, as well as the retail of prescribed petroleum products without an applicable retail licence issued by the controller of petroleum products.
“More charges could be added as the investigation unfolds,” Solomons said.
Metro police officers also arrested a suspect on firearm and drug-related charges in Lavender Hill on Thursday, after receiving a tip off.
After being granted permission to search a house in the area, the officers recovered a 9mm pistol, 233 rounds of ammunition and a small quantity of drugs in one of the bedrooms.
Further investigations revealed that the firearm was stolen in Diep River in 1993, Solomons said.
“A 51-year-old suspect was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and possession of drugs and detained at Steenberg SAPS.
“Later on, the officers also found a large quantity of dagga in the area, that was booked in at SAPS as abandoned.”
Meanwhile, in Philippi, officers recovered a hijacked vehicle late on Wednesday afternoon.
“At approximately 17.30, officers observed the driver of a white VW Polo disobeying a red light.
“The driver sped off when instructed to stop, and after an initial high speed chase, the four occupants of the vehicle jumped out of the car and fled on foot – during the chase, one of them fired several shots at the officers, who then returned fire,” Solomons said.
The officers apprehended two of the suspects. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the vehicle had been reported as hijacked at Nyanga SAPS earlier in the day.
“The officers searched the vehicle and recovered one imitation firearm, bank cards, an amount of R1 270 in cash, as well as the original number plates of the vehicle.
“The suspects, aged 27 and 28, were detained at Philippi East SAPS (on charges of) attempted murder, possession of a hijacked vehicle and additional charges of possession of suspected stolen property, reckless and negligent driving and displaying of false number plates.”
Additionally, according to Traffic Service spokesperson Maxine Bezuidenhout, a highway patrol officer chased down three robbery suspects on Thursday evening when they responded to a robbery on the N2 outbound at Liesbeeck Parkway.
“CCTV cameras caught the suspects robbing the occupants of a broken down vehicle at approximately 7.30pm, before fleeing on foot.
“The officer tracked them down to Garden Village, with the help of camera operators, and three colleagues who provided backup.
“The suspects were detained at Woodstock SAPS,” Bezuidenhout said.