Two South African police officers were robbed at gunpoint of their firearms in broad daylight while stopping for lunch at a roadside food stall in Johannesburg. The entire robbery, which saw four men force the officers into their own police van and lock them inside before fleeing with their guns, took less than a minute to occur and was captured on nearby CCTV footage. The police were later freed from the van by members of the public and gave chase to the suspects, arresting three of them after shots were exchanged, with the stolen police firearms recovered.
Two South African police officers were robbed at gunpoint of their firearms in broad daylight while stopping for lunch at a roadside food stall in Johannesburg. The entire robbery, which saw four men force the officers into their own police van and lock them inside before fleeing with their guns, took less than a minute to occur and was captured on nearby CCTV footage. The police were later freed from the van by members of the public and gave chase to the suspects, arresting three of them after shots were exchanged, with the stolen police firearms recovered.
Two South African police officers were robbed at gunpoint of their firearms in broad daylight while stopping for lunch at a roadside food stall in Johannesburg. The entire robbery, which saw four men force the officers into their own police van and lock them inside before fleeing with their guns, took less than a minute to occur and was captured on nearby CCTV footage. The police were later freed from the van by members of the public and gave chase to the suspects, arresting three of them after shots were exchanged, with the stolen police firearms recovered.
Two South African police officers were robbed at gunpoint of their firearms in broad daylight while stopping for lunch at a roadside food stall in Johannesburg. The entire robbery, which saw four men force the officers into their own police van and lock them inside before fleeing with their guns, took less than a minute to occur and was captured on nearby CCTV footage. The police were later freed from the van by members of the public and gave chase to the suspects, arresting three of them after shots were exchanged, with the stolen police firearms recovered.
JOHANNESBURG: South African police today admitted two officers were robbed of their guns and locked in their own van in the middle of the day and it was all caught on camera. The incident happened mid-afternoon on Tuesday while the officers stopped for lunch at a busy roadside food stall in a northern Johannesburg township, said a police spokesman. The robbery was caught on the closed circuit television camera of a nearby business. The footage shows four men casually walking past the police van and then disappearing from view beneath a tarpaulin where the officers were eating lunch. They remerge seconds later with the officers in tow, forcing them into the back of the vehicle. They lock the van and then ran off. The entire robbery takes less than a minute. Police spokesman brigadier Neville Malila said members of the public helped the officers out of the car. The police then called for backup and a chase ensued. The suspects lost control of their vehicle and fired several shots at the police who returned fire, said Malila. No injuries were reported. Three of the suspects were arrested and three firearms confiscated, including the two the gang had just stolen from the police.--AFP