A routine day took a dramatic turn for a policeman in Tongaat, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), when he became the victim of a brazen robbery executed by criminals masquerading as police officers.
How brazen robbers disarmed Tongaat on-duty police officer
The officer, responding to a request for verification of a warrant at a car sales business on Ramiah Drive in Metcalf, was disarmed and robbed of his state-issued Z88 pistol and cellphone.
The incident, which unfolded on a busy Thursday afternoon, involved a group of 11 suspects dressed in SAPS uniforms, two of whom were female.
The gang entered the premises under the guise of serving a warrant. An employee, sensing something amiss, contacted the Tongaat SAPS for assistance, inadvertently leading the real officer into a well-laid trap.
Upon the officer’s arrival in a marked police vehicle, the situation rapidly deteriorated.
The suspects robbed the warrant officer and several security officers on the premises of their firearms.
They also managed to flee with an undisclosed amount of cash from the business. The suspects, demonstrating a calculated precision, made a swift getaway in two white Ford Ranger bakkies, leaving the police vehicle untouched.
The police in Tongaat swiftly engaged Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) for air support in a desperate bid to track the suspects.
The RUSA R44 Helicopter was deployed, intensifying the manhunt for the suspects who had fled the scene.
However, a small consolation in an otherwise alarming situation came after it was confirmed that no injuries were reported during the incident.