Pretoria – Four suspects, between 22 and 39 years old will appear before the Bethal Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, after being arrested for being in possession of a suspected stolen vehicle.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the arrests came after police were alerted by security guards at Bethal Mall about a suspicious white Chevrolet Aveo parked at the facility.
“The members responded swiftly to the complaint and on arrival at the scene, the security directed them to where the vehicle was parked. Inside the car, there were four occupants,” Mohlala said.
“The police made their investigations about the vehicle and learned that the vehicle was reported stolen somewhere this month, July 2022, at Jeppe in Gauteng province. The four suspects were then cornered by the men and women in blue before they could make any move thereby arresting them as well and charged them accordingly.”
The four will face charges of possession of a suspected stolen motor vehicle. Police said more charges could be added against the suspects, as the probe continues.
In April, alert police officers in Mpumalanga recovered a BMW vehicle at a house near Collegeview Trust in Bushbuckridge, several months after it was hijacked in Mamelodi, Pretoria.
Mohlala said police officers “were busy patrolling whilst making their presence felt on the streets” when they spotted the car and went into the yard to investigate.
“They then spotted a suspicious white BMW sedan parked in a certain yard. The members reportedly entered the yard, however the “owner” was not around at the time,” Mohlala said.
On close inspection, the officers discovered that it was fitted with false registration number plates.
“Further information by the police revealed that the vehicle was stolen during a robbery in August 2021 at Mamelodi in Gauteng. In addition, the members found an engine of a Toyota Corolla as they checked around the yard, though the serial numbers thereof were somehow tampered with,” Mohlala said.
IOL