Cape Town - Six alleged armed robbers will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Monday after they were arrested soon after an armed robbery at a shop in Milnerton last week, the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Western Cape said.
"The swift response of SAPS to an armed robbery in progress at a grocery [shop] in Milnerton and our subsequent investigations resulted in the apprehension of six suspects in total," Lt-Col Andrè Traut said on Sunday.
On Friday morning, at about 8.50am, members attached to the Western Cape K9 unit reacted to a complaint of armed suspects robbing a business on the corner of Koeberg Road and Madeira Street in Tygerhof, Milnerton.
Upon their arrival, the officers spotted the suspects fleeing the scene in two vehicles, a Toyota Prado and a Toyota Corolla. During a shoot-out between police and four suspects in the Corolla, three suspects were wounded. All four suspects, aged between 25 and 35, were arrested while their accomplices in the Prado managed to evade arrest.
Four firearms comprising three 9mm pistols and a .38 revolver were recovered, together with the stolen cash and cigarettes. A search of the area led to the arrest of a fifth suspect who fled the scene on foot shortly after the incident. He was found hiding in the garden of a residence close to the crime scene.
Further investigations resulted in the arrest of a sixth suspect on Saturday at his residence in the Milnerton area. All six suspects were scheduled to appear in court in Cape Town on Monday. Western Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Khombinkosi Jula commended the officers for their vigilance and quick response, Traut said.