Police have arrested an inmate who escaped lawful custody in 2018. Image: Pixabay
Most wanted suspect who escaped prison in 2018 rearrested
Lesley Chuenyane who is Limpopo’s most wanted suspect linked to several cases escaped while being transported to Mpumalanga.
Police have arrested an inmate who escaped lawful custody in 2018. Image: Pixabay
The Nebo Tracking Team in Limpopo has been hailed after they arrested Limpopo’s most wanted suspect, Lesley Chuenyane who escaped prison in 2018 in Jane Furse, Sekhukhunime District.
The 29-year-old escaped lawful custody in 2018 while being transported to prison in Witbank, Mpumalanga. He was arrested on Friday, 14 April.
MOST WANTED SUSPECT ARRESTED
South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson in Limpopo, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, said Lesley Chuenyane was first arrested in 2018 after he was linked to four counts of rape committed at the Nebo policing area.
The suspect was positively linked with the cases through forensic evidence, and his victims were between 20 and 30.
On the day of his escape, a group of prisoners awaiting trial allegedly cut through the burglar window of a police van after it stopped at the Laersdrif policing area in Mpumalanga.
Malesela said the other suspects were rearrested shortly after the incident with the assistance of the local farmers, but Chuenyane managed to escape and has been on the run since.
“It is believed the suspect went on and committed serious crimes in the Nebo policing area from 2018 until this year, including robberies and hijacking. Again, he was positively linked to the robbery at Nebo Traffic Department, where two security guards were allegedly robbed of their service firearms. One of the firearms was recovered at the suspect’s homestead in Nebo after police were tipped off about its existence,” he said.
It is also alleged that Chuenyane accosted two other security officers at Phokwane Clinic and robbed them of their belongings, including cellphones.
The 29-year-old escapee was also linked to an incident whereby a traffic officer was hijacked at gunpoint while travelling in his private motor vehicle.
The stolen VW Polo motor vehicle was later recovered after he abandoned it when the police cornered him.
“The suspect also further robbed a female victim of her belongings at gunpoint. The woman is reportedly his former classmate. His reign of terror ended when the task team members pounced on him at a rented room in Jane Furse on Friday,” the spokesperson said.
NEBO TRACKING TEAM HAILED FOR THE ARREST
Limpopo Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe applauded the members of this task team for rearresting the heartless criminal.
Police said Chuenyane faces over ten charges ranging from rape, carjacking, and robbery. He appeared in the Nebo Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 17 April, on one count of robbery. He was remanded in custody until 05 May 2023.
He will still appear in the same court on other charges. He is also expected to appear in Mpumalanga on a charge of escaping from lawful custody.
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