Cape Town - A joint effort by SAPS officers and private security guards foiled a business robbery in progress and led to the quick arrest of two would-be armed robbers in Cape Town on Saturday, the Western Cape SAPS said yesterday.
“The swift response of members of the (SAPS) provincial integrated team to a business robbery in progress led to the arrest of two suspects and seizure of two unlicensed firearms in Goodwood (in Cape Town) on Saturday evening," Western Cape SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said in a statement.
Reports from the scene indicated that six armed suspects entered a shop on the corner of Merriman and Nelson streets in Goodwood after 5pm and demanded money from the owner, who managed to alert a local private security company. The security company, in turn, alerted the SAPS, Potelwa said.
On arrival at the scene, the officers, with the assistance of a SAPS K9 unit dog, searched the premises and found an armed suspect hiding inside the shop.
A second armed suspect, who fled on foot from the scene, was found and arrested a few streets away with the assistance of the police dog.
Two 9mm firearms with several rounds of ammunition were seized. The suspects, aged 36 and 31, from Samora Machel near Nyanga in Cape Town, have been charged with possession of prohibited firearms and ammunition as well as attempted business robbery. The search for the four other suspects who fled in a vehicle is continuing.
The prompt response of the provincial integrated team officers and the security company officers was applauded, said Potelwa.
African News Agency (ANA)