Cops, robbers in gun battle
|Published
The crashed BMW on the R511 used by armed robbers as an escape vehicle which collided with an oncoming taxi after fleeing from the scene of an armed robbery at Fourways Mall. 290812. picture: Chris Collingridge 780 The crashed BMW on the R511 used by armed robbers as an escape vehicle which collided with an oncoming taxi after fleeing from the scene of an armed robbery at Fourways Mall. 290812. picture: Chris Collingridge 780
An armed robbery at an electronics store at Fourways Mall on Wednesday morning ended in a dramatic crash with a taxi and the recovery of a stolen safe.
The incident caused major traffic disruptions as police battled to piece together what had happened, while at the same time launching a massive manhunt for the suspects.
Gauteng police spokeswoman Colonel Katlego Mogale said just before 5am four or five men broke into the store at the popular mall.
As they were leaving they were spotted by mall security officials and a shootout erupted as the guards tried to stop the robbers from escaping. She said mall security alerted the crime-combating unit, who then also joined the chase and headed out after the robbers who had jumped into a blue BMW.
The chase happened along the R511, from Fourways Mall in the direction of Diepsloot.
While trying to get away, the robbers crashed into a taxi filled with passengers.
The robbers then jumped out of their damaged car, abandoned their loot and sprinted into the surrounding smallholdings.
Some of the suspects managed to outrun the police, who chased after them and managed to apprehend one.
Mogale said none of the occupants of the taxi was hurt.
The crash scene was cordoned off by police and caused a massive traffic backlog along the busy main road.
The BMW was positioned diagonally across the road, was missing a front tyre and was badly dented.
The windscreen was smashed in and the taxi lay about 100m away, also missing a front tyre that was ripped off in the accident.
A witness called in to Talk Radio 702 to describe on air what she had seen. “We heard a bang and lots of sirens. There were about seven cop cars on the scene and a large bag - it looked like a money bag - was lying on the ground,” she said.
It is thought that the bag contained the safe.
Traffic, trickling past the crash scene for several hours as cars headed in the Sandton direction, was backed up for kilometres.
At about 8am police and traffic officers blocked off the road to enable forensic experts to complete their investigations.
Crowds gathered to watch.
At the mall, Entrance 1 was cordoned off while detectives investigated the robbery scene.
Mogale said no one was injured in the incident. Police recovered a 9mm pistol, an R4 rifle and a revolver, as well as two iPads and the safe from the robbed store.
She said they identified the revolver as having been used in another Fourways robbery.
She said the arrested suspect would appear in court in the next 48 hours, while detectives would continue their hunt for the others. - The Star