SAPS Arrest Man for Attempted Bribery After Cops Offered R5k to Release Hijacker Caught With Marked Police Van

• A man landed himself in hot water after trying to bribe South African Police Services officers with R5 000
• The man offered the officer the money in exchange for the release of a man who was arrested for being in possession of a marked police vehicle allegedly used in hijackings
• Preliminary investigations revealed that the vehicle was stolen in Bedfordview in December 2022

MIDRAND - South African Police Services (SAPS) officers in Gauteng have arrested a man for attempting to bribe police officers with R5 000.

The 46-year-old man arrived at a scene where police had just arrested another man for possessing a marked police van allegedly used in hijackings.

The man allegedly offered to bribe the officers in exchange for releasing the suspected hijacker. The police acted fast and immediately placed the 46-year-old man under arrest.

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Police recover marked police van allegedly used in truck hijackings

Police were alerted about the vehicle after members of Ekurhuleni district crime intelligence, the Thembisa tracing team and a highway patrol unit received a tip-off about a suspiciously marked police vehicle.

According to Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo, when the task team arrived at the scene, they found a Mazda BT50 that resembled a provincial head office vehicle driving out of a plot on Modderfontein, TimesLIVE reported.

The driver of the vehicle attempted to flee but was apprehended by police after a chase. SAPS released a statement on Twitter claiming that investigations revealed that the car was stolen in Bedfordview in December 2022.

South Africans questioning how the suspected hijacker obtained the police branding

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Below are some of the questions South Africans have asked:

Harold Mashele asked:

"Can't the police have uniquely coloured cars that can and only be used by the police and not sold to anyone else?"

Sipho Tymon Moyo questioned:

"My question is who supplied these thugs with the police emblems."

Lucky Masuku slammed:

"This is treason."

Lethabo Mokoena quizzed:

"Will they also arrest the owners of the companies that brand these cars one day?"

Vj Budhoo claimed:

"Inside job."

IPID investigates after KZN cop shoots alleged robber who tried to steal his firearm, second man arrested

In another story, Briefly News reported that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is investigating a case of a police officer discharging a firearm after a KwaZulu-Natal cop shot and injured an alleged robber.

Men clad in balaclavas and gloves reportedly broke into the police officer's house on Saturday evening, 25 February.

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The police officer's wife told police that two men entered the house through the kitchen door as her son opened it. The boy was threatened with a firearm while the men demanded his father's gun.

Source: Briefly News