Port Elizabeth - Port Elizabeth police on Monday praised officers at a private security company and a petrol station employee after they assisted in the arrest of two robbery suspects.
Police spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu said two suspects entered a petrol station at William Moffet Expressway on Sunday night at 10pm and held up the cashier at gunpoint.
Naidu said the cashier was ordered to empty the contents of the cash register into a plastic bag.
The suspects then held up a 18 year-old customer in the shop before taking him to his luxury vehicle and ordered him to drive them away from the scene.
The teenager stalled the car in Circular Drive and ran away when the suspects ordered him out of the vehicle.
Naidu said while the robbery was in progress, an employee at the garage suspected that something was amiss and immediately pressed the panic alarm. Within minutes, a security vehicle was on the scene.
Naidu said security personnel then spotted the vehicle and stopped it at the corners of Buffelsfontein and Victoria Drive.
Both suspects, aged 26 and 28, were arrested and the money and a toy gun were recovered .
The suspects were detained on charges of armed robbery, kidnapping and carjacking.
Mount Road Cluster Commander, Major General Thembisile Patekile commended the security company for their swift reaction and highlighted the importance of the installation of alarm systems by businesses.