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News – South Africa: Suspects nabbed before planned mall raid

WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.

Original Post Date: 2008-10-30 Time: 16:00:10  Posted By: Jan

Police on Wednesday apprehended a gang of heavily armed suspects – equipped with police uniforms and batons – before they could carry out a spate of violent attacks around the city.

The group of seven is believed to be part of a larger gang responsible for a bloody crime spree carried out on homes and shopping centres throughout Pretoria over the past two weeks.

Reacting to a tip-off, teams of specialised detectives from the National Hi-Tech Unit, Crime Intelligence Unit, along with members of Wierdabrug police station robbery task team and Lyttelton police station, swooped on the men in a cul-de-sac in Lyttelton Manor as they were apparently preparing to launch a series of attacks on Wednesday.

It is suspected that the men aimed to attack a number of homes, as well as a shopping mall in Centurion.

Blocking off the cul-de-sac in Cradock Street, police swarmed the men who were trapped with in the fenced-off compound of the South African Military Health Services.

At least two of the suspects attempted to flee in a getaway car along a service road, running alongside the military compound perimeter fence, but they were caught.

When they searched the men, police recovered two pistols – one of which had been thrown into a garden.

A search of the suspects’ three vehicles, which are all believed to have been stolen, saw detectives recovering police uniforms, balaclavas, a stun gun, police batons and other law enforcement equipment.

Several copies of the Pretoria News were found in the suspects’ cars, with at least one carrying a story pre-dawn attack on Irene Village Mall.

A police officer said the newspapers suggested that the gang was studying reports of their crimes to ascertain how close police were to arresting them.

As curious onlookers watched forensic experts dust the vehicles for fingerprints, police quickly loaded the handcuffed suspects into vans and carted them off to Lyttelton police station.

The Pretoria News was reliably informed that by late on Wednesday the suspects had been split up and taken to different areas for questioning in connection with a series of crimes.

Lyttelton police station commissioner, Director Andre Wiese, said they were linking the men to “multiple” armed robberies which had occurred in Pretoria and throughout Gauteng.

“These men are responsible for a wave of violent armed robberies which have taken place in the past two weeks,” he said, adding that one of the cars had been either stolen or hijacked in Sunnyside several days ago.

Expressing concern over the police uniforms and equipment recovered from the suspects’ vehicles, Wiese said they were investigating whether these were stolen or handed to the robbers by corrupt policemen.

“Our investigation will look into whether actual police officers were involved in the crimes or whether the robberies were carried out by the suspects posing as law enforcement officials,” he said.

Wiese said a tip-off indicated that the suspects aimed to hit a Centurion shopping mall.

“Fortunately our officers were pro-active,” he said.

He said the men would appear in court soon on charges of armed robbery, theft, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Anyone with information on criminals or people they suspect of planning criminal activities can contact Crime Stop on 086 001 0111.

    • Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20081030055551209C833278