Durban - A Berea woman accused of shoplifting at the Gateway shopping mall is alleged to have run over a pursuing security guard, dragging him with her car for about 150m, before she was apprehended after colliding with another vehicle.
Primrose Magocobe, 44, appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of attempted murder.
Prosecutor Nhlanhla Mkhize told magistrate Vanitha Armu that Magocobe had been caught shoplifting last week.
It is alleged she jumped into her car to escape, with several security guards trying to stop her.
Mkhize said Magocobe hit one of the guards while trying to flee and dragged him for about 150m underneath her car, which came to a stop after colliding with another vehicle at the boom gates in the parking area.
No details emerged in court about the nature of the injuries the guard sustained.
The prosecutor said she then jumped out and tried to run away but was apprehended by another security guard.
The State opposed bail on the grounds that she was facing an attempted murder charge and that there would be separate charges relating to several items found in her car identified as allegedly being stolen from Woolworths and Edgars.
The court heard that other shops would also identify some of the items.
Syndicate
Mkhize said the investigating officer had reported that Magocobe was “strongly suspected” of being involved in a shoplifting syndicate. She was also considered a flight risk considering the extreme lengths she had gone to, to escape, he said.
Mkhize requested an adjournment for the bail application but Magocobe’s attorney opposed this, saying there was no substance to the accusation that Magocobe was a flight risk.
Her attorney said the concern was his client’s minor child, currently living alone.
The bail application will be heard next week.
Daily News