Roodepoort - A man was arrested after perlemoen (abalone) worth an estimated R3 million was found in a car following a shoot-out between two men and metro police in Roodepoort on Thursday, metro police said.
The man, in his 20s, was found hiding in a ceiling in a house in Florida.
His accomplice was still at large, said Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.
“The two escaped after a high speed chase and scaled over a wall and disappeared. Witnesses informed police that they saw one of them run into a house.”
The man paid a domestic worker he found in the house R50 to hide him away, said Minnaar.
Officers had on Thursday morning stopped a suspicious looking BMW on Gordon Road from the N1.
The car sped off, with the officers in pursuit, until they got to William Nicol Road in Florida.
“There the suspects started shooting at the officers. Officers returned fire.”
Two men jumped out the car, scaled a wall, and fled the scene.
Police inspected the car and found about 20 bags of perlemoen.
The shoot-out happened around 9am.
“No officers were injured. However, a passer-by in a Ford Ranger (had his) windscreen shot out in the cross-fire. The man and a two-year-old child in the car were not injured,” said Minnaar.
The man is expected to appear in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court soon to face charges of perlemoen.
Sapa