Cape Town - A police reservist stationed at the Khayelitsha police station in Cape Town was one of three suspects arrested by Metro police after they were caught driving in a hijacked vehicle.
The City of Cape Town’s Mayco member on Safety and Security JP Smith said members of the Metro Police’s Tactical Response Unit were en route to an operation in Gugulethu on Wednesday when they noticed a suspicious looking vehicle.
Three male suspects were travelling in the VW Polo Vivo on the N2, when the one sitting in the back began behaving nervously when he saw the officers.
Smith said the officers pulled the car over on the N2 between Duinefontein and Jakes Gerwel drive and a Taurus pistol with the serial number filed off was recovered.
Officers confirmed that the vehicle had been hijacked earlier this month. All three men were arrested.
“The GP number plates on the vehicle are registered to a registered company and a CA registration number was reflected on the licence disc,” Smith said.
The men are set to face charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, using false number plates and armed robbery for the hijacking case.
Smith said the men would most likely appear in court on Thursday.
Describing it as “disturbing”, he said authorities would never be able to stem gang violence if there was a steady flow of illegal firearms.
The fact that a police reservist was allegedly involved “bodes very poorly for the vetting and screening process”.
Smith said: “People will do bad things, the important thing is what you do about it.”
ANA