Today, the Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, welcomes news of an arrest of a suspect in possession of a firearm, ammunition and drugs in Kraaifontein, following a dangerous pursuit.

At 21:55 last night, LEAP officers were on foot patrols in Scottsdene, Kraaifontein. While conducting stop and searches, an individual on a bicycle tried to ride past the LEAP officers after they asked him to stop. LEAP Officers then gave chase and the suspect eventually fell off of his bicycle and tried to run. While he was running, officers noticed him reaching for his waistband, but in doing so, he lost his footing and stumbled to the ground, whereupon a silver revolver fell too.

LEAP Officers then tackled the suspect and, after some wrestling, managed to bring the suspect under control and arrest him. In addition to the Taurus 357 magnum revolver and 6 rounds of ammunition, two bank packets of tik were also found on the suspect. He was transported to Kraaifontein police station for processing.

Minister Fritz said: “I want make a point of acknowledging the brave efforts by our LEAP officers. The suspect could so easily have grabbed hold of the gun when he reached for it, and things could have ended a lot differently. But our LEAP officers are trained well to deal with situations like these, and the suspect was safely arrested. I want to thank them for the work they do to make our communities safe.”

Minister Fritz concluded, “through our Provincial Safety Plan, our LEAP officers, together with SAPS, Metro Police and all law enforcement agencies are working hard to make our communities safe. Our citizens deserve to live in peace, and that is our top priority. And we are slowly but surely winning the war against violence and substance abuse.”

Source: Government of South Africa