Combined efforts by various units of the police in the investigation into a number of recent robberies in and around George led to a breakthrough when the police arrested a taxi driver who is scheduled to appear in the George Magistrates Court today (19 April).
A Toyota Quantum minibus taxi, believed to belong to the suspect, was linked to a robbery of a shop in York Street last Monday evening (12 April) when four men, two of them armed, took an undisclosed amount of cash, three cell phones and cigarettes before they fled the scene.
Detectives attached to the George Police noticed the taxi in the central business district and followed it to Thembalethu, where the 21 year old driver was arrested. Further investigation linked the suspect to a number of robberies of shops in Pacaltsdorp and Conville.
According to Serg Chris Spies, spkesperson for the Southerm Cape Police, the driver’s arrest forms part of an ongoing investigation and his accomplices are yet to be arrested. He is facing numerous robbery charges. Police also seized the taxi which was allegedly used as a getaway vehicle.
• The police also arrested a 27 year old suspect on a charge of the illegal possession of ammunition on Friday afternoon (16 April). A 9 mm round of ammunition and an imitation firearm were found when a house in Thembalethu was searched. The possibility that this suspect could be linked to robberies in the Greater George is being investigated.