Prisoners

A ban on family visits since the start of the pandemic may have been a factor, Solda said. Image: Flickr

George: Prisoners escape through police truck roof, cops prove smarter

Prisoners were denied a dash for freedom after a slick escape. Police hardly broke a sweat to re-arrest them within hours.

Prisoners

A ban on family visits since the start of the pandemic may have been a factor, Solda said. Image: Flickr

The three escaped near George as a police truck was transporting prisoners from the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court to the George Correctional Facility on Monday 20 September.

The prisoners were awaiting trialists for weighty counts such as murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated housebreaking with the intention to rob, theft out of a motor vehicle, and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.

READ: Elmarie Myburgh: SA’s only criminal profiler battles crime tidal wave

PRISONERS JUMPED OFF MOVING TRUCK

The three prisoners now face an added charge of escaping from lawful custody. The three opened a panel in the roof of the truck, sneaked out, and jumped off the moving vehicle.

“Preliminary investigation indicates that the detainees opened a panel in the roof of the truck forcefully, disembarked from the vehicle through the roof, and jumped off the moving vehicle near the Glentana bridge,” Southern Cape police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie told IOL.

But unfortunately for the prisoners, the police reaction showed smarter, faster, and united teamwork to catch the escapees within hours.

FAST POLICE RESPONSE

SAPS, including its special units, combined with the municipal crime team, as well as neighbourhood watch and farm security force.

“Members immediately called for reinforcement from George and Mossel Bay with the activation of the Eden Cluster Crime Combating Team and other specialised units within SAPS, who were joined by neighbourhood and farm watch volunteers,” Pojie said.

“The success was due to the joint effort by all involved, including two private individuals who made their drones available to trace two of the escapees,” Pojie concluded.

In other Western Cape police news, Cape Town’s Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers were about to arrest a couple for driving past curfew but suddenly found themselves helping a pregnant woman give birth on the spot.