Western Cape police arrest three suspects car chase

Western Cape Police arrested three suspects after a short car chase. Image: Hawks

Police swoop on ‘blue light’ suspects, recover police handcuffs, firearms

The ‘blue lights’ suspects had been terrorising citizens in Gauteng, the Free State and North West provinces.

Western Cape police arrest three suspects car chase

Western Cape Police arrested three suspects after a short car chase. Image: Hawks

The Hawks swooped on three ‘blue light’ suspects on the West Rand in Gauteng on Thursday morning.

The men, who are wanted for a slew of armed robberies, were found to be in possession of police equipment, including  handcuffs and blue lights, as well as two unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale said that the police had arrested the three suspects, who are aged 34,35 and 36 were on Hendrik Potgieter Road near Muldersdrift. He said the arrest followed an police intelligence driven operation. 

“It is reported that the members of the Hawks’ Tactical Operations Management Section with the assistance of Crime Intelligence, Gauteng Highway patrol, Gauteng Traffic Saturation Unit, Bad Boy Security, Tracker Connect and ICB Insurance Crime Bureau acted on information received from GP Crime Intelligence Collection team about suspects driving a Golf 7 fitted with blue lights,” Mogale said.

“The suspects were spotted on Hendrik Potgieter and were successfully cornered by the team,” he said.

Suspects ‘terrorised’ citizens in Gauteng, Free State

He said that further information which the police had received revealed that the suspects had been terrorising law abiding citizens in Gauteng, Free State, North West and other neighboring provinces. 

“During their arrest, the suspects were found to be in possession of police equipment including handcuffs, blue lights and two unlicensed firearms as well as ammunition,” Mogale said. 

He said that the police’s preliminary investigations had linked the suspects to an armed robbery committed in Klerkskraal late October 2021. 

“While on scene, police received information that they had also robbed a foreign businessman in Heilbron in the Free State. We do not rule out the possibility that the suspects will be linked to other cases in other provinces as well,” Mogale said.

The three suspects are expected to appear in court in due course.