Johannesburg - A security guard has been arrested after police found that he had lent a taxi driver his service pistol which was then used in the commission of a crime.
The 35-year old man has been charged with the negligent handling of a firearm and was expected to appear in court on Monday.
The taxi driver has also been arrested and charged with the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition after police found him inside the taxi with the victim he was allegedly trying to rob.
Captain Xoli Mbele of the Johannesburg Central Police said officers were busy with their routine crime prevention duties in the CBD when they received a tip off from a community member about a male in possession of an unlicensed firearm.
They were also told the man was sitting inside a Quantum taxi with two men.
Mbele said they swiftly responded to the tip-off and found three men inside the taxi.
One of the men, Mbele said, was in the process of being robbed.
“He told police that he lives in the nearby flats and had just returned from the shops when he was forced into the taxi at gunpoint and asked to hand over his phone.”
Mbele said investigations later revealed the gun belonged to a security company.
He said the guard, who is stationed at the corners of Goud and President Streets in the Joburg CBD, had been given the gun by the security company that morning when he started his shift.
However, Mbele said, the guard lent the gun to the taxi driver who then used it to try rob his victim of his phone.
The man who was with the taxi driver was not charged. The taxi driver was also not charged with robbery as he had not taken the man’s phone when police arrived, Mbele said.
Johannesburg Central Station Commander Brigadier Irvin Perumal commended good working relationship between the police and the community.
He also urged the community to report crime happening in their precinct.
IOL