Cigarette van heist foiled

Cape Town - Cigarettes were the focus of a botched crime for a second time this week when police caught an alleged delivery van hijacker red-handed behind the wheel.

At about 9am on Wednesday police, following up on information, spotted a cigarette delivery vehicle being driven by a man in suspicious circumstances in 1st Avenue, Kraaifontein, said police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut.

This happened a day after a planned cigarette heist by two robbers fizzled out when their getaway car wouldn’t start and they had to abandon most of their loot.

On Wednesday, an attempt to stop the vehicle resulted in a brief pursuit ending in Wallacedene. The driver of the vehicle, who had allegedly hijacked it minutes before in Kraaifontein, was arrested. Men in a vehicle following the delivery van, possibly accomplices, managed to flee.

The alleged hijacker is due to make a court appearance once he has been charged.

Cape Argus