GELVANPARK - ARMED ROBBERY SUSPECTS CRASH INTO POLICE VEHICLE

AN armed robbery in Gelvan Park, Port Elizabeth, came to a dramatic end when the suspects crashed into an unmarked police vehicle. The accident happened at the intersection of Gail and Stanford roads in Gelvandale shortly after 8am yesterday.

Police spokesman Warrant Officer Alwin Labans said eight suspects – in a blue Isuzu bakkie that had been reported stolen in Humewood last month – had just robbed a British American Tobacco (BAT) delivery vehicle in Gutch Street, Gelvan Park, less than 1km away.

“The tobacco delivery truck was dropping off stock when the suspects confronted the driver outside a shop,” Labans said.

“The robbers held him at gunpoint and demanded he hand over the boxes.

“The suspects packed several boxes into their bakkie and fled towards Stanford Road.”

Skipping a red traffic light, the suspects rear-ended an unmarked police bakkie with two detectives inside.

In CCTV footage, which The Herald has seen, it would appear the suspects thought they were being chased by a marked police vehicle – with its blue lights on – that was in fact responding to another crime.

Labans said at the time of the collision, the armed robbery had not yet been reported to police.

On impact at the intersection, the police vehicle rolled and hit two other cars.

The suspects grabbed some of the boxes of cigarettes and fled into the bushy area near Gelvan Grounds Sports Fields.

Nelson Mandela Bay EMS operations manager Ashwell Botha said the detectives and the drivers of the two vehicles that were hit during the accident were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

VIA - heraldlive.co.za