A man handcuffed in the back of a police vehicle managed to escape from the four Pretoria police officers escorting him to a Mpumalanga court, with their van, Beeld reported on Tuesday.
“They (are) facing charges of negligence,” said Mpumalanga police spokesman Captain Leonard Hlathi.
The four officers, who had already appeared in the Cullinan Magistrate's Court, were taking the alleged robber from Pretoria to the Kwaggafontein Magistrate's Court in Mpumalanga.
They stopped at a shop in Moloto between Pretoria and Siyabuswa to buy food. Two of the officers went into the shop while the other two stood smoking outside the car.
The suspect, who is facing 17 charges, including armed robbery and theft, was sitting handcuffed in the back of the vehicle.
“He succeeded (in taking) one of the officer's pistols from the cubbyhole, held up the two officers, and chased away with the car.”
He stopped at a garage a few kilometres away to refuel. One of the attendants thought he was a policeman because he was wearing a bulletproof jacket.
He had managed to remove the handcuffs. There were four firearms in the police car.
Beeld reported that on Monday night the man was still at large and the police vehicle still missing. - Sapa