Cape Town - Two suspects from Heideveld, who robbed a boy and a girl at gunpoint last week, have spent the weekend behind bars after the clever victims helped cops nab them.
Manenberg Police Station commander, Brigadier Enolium Joseph, says the “well-known” thieves stole valuables worth R10 000 from the duo last Wednesday.
He says the suspects, aged 30 and 24, were arrested by seasoned detective Sergeant Daryl van Noie, who used the information provided by the victims to catch them.
“On 16 January at 11.25am an 18-year-old female and a 19-year-old male were at a shop in Heideveld and as they walked back home along Spar Road, they were confronted by the two males,” he says.
“They held them at gunpoint and threatened to shoot them. They searched the teens and took cellphones, expensive sunglasses and jewellery worth R10 000 and fled the scene and ran towards the Heideveld flats.”
Joseph says the traumatised teens went home and started gathering information about the suspects.
“They managed to get the first names of the suspects and their addresses. The young people waited for their parents to come home from work for support and a case of armed robbery was opened for investigation,” he says.
“The next day at 7am, Van Noie walked into the suspects’ homes and arrested them.
“He also found the sunglasses in their possession, but did not recover the firearm used in the robbery.”
A police source says the two suspects are notorious in the area.
“The 30-year-old has links to the Fancy Boys gang and was recently released from prison.
“He was charged with attempted murder, but the complainant withdrew the case and he was released.
“The 24-year-old is also an ou skelm (habitual thief). He has several outstanding warrants because he failed to appear in court after being granted bail for armed robbery charges,” the source says.
The two men will appear in Athlone Magistrates’ Court on Monday and Joseph applauded the teens for their tenacity.
“I commend Van Noie for his swift response and arrest of these suspects, but the true heroes are the two teens who kept calm and showed their tenacity of taking their streets back by reporting these suspects, retrieving some information ensuring that these criminals are brought to book.”