Pretoria - Police in Gauteng have recovered a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV after it was hijacked from its owner in Delmas on Sunday.
Spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) Lerato Monyane said the owner of the house where the popular SUV was parked said a man had brought it and parked it. The man who allegedly brought the vehicle could not be reached on the phone, according to police.
“On Monday, March 2023, at 9.30, members of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department’s Tsakane precinct officers, in conjunction with the South African Police Service tracing unit, recovered a hijacked vehicle at Tsakane,” said Monyane.
“The EMPD officers received information regarding a hijacked vehicle that was spotted driving around the Tsakane area. Following up on the information, officers were led to a residence on Mosaka Street in Tsakane, where the hijacked white Toyota Land Cruiser SUV was found.
“Allegedly, the SUV was hijacked from the owner at Delmas on Sunday, 5 March 2023, and a case docket was opened at Benoni police station. The owner of the house alleges that the known suspect parked the vehicle and left.”
Monyane said attempts to reach the suspect were not successful as he “had switched off his phone”.
“The vehicle was taken to Benoni, Van Rhyn Deep, for safekeeping.
“Investigations are ongoing, and arrests are imminent,” she said.
A search on the website cars.co.za shows that the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 off-roader ranges from around R1. 4million to almost R2 million.
In November, police in Limpopo intercepted a Toyota Prado vehicle, which was hijacked in Gauteng while it was being driven towards the neighbouring Zimbabwe by a woman.
At the time, Limpopo provincial SAPS spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, said the 39-year-old woman was arrested on the spot.
“In ensuring that stolen or hijacked vehicles are not going through our borders, the ever-alert police officers intercepted and pulled over a Toyota Prado along the N1 road under Botlokwa policing area north of Polokwane on Wednesday, 9 November 2022, and arrested a 39-year-old female suspect,” Ledwaba said.
“The information was provided by the members of the crime intelligence unit about a hijacked Toyota Prado motor vehicle which was intended to be smuggled to Zimbabwe via Beitbridge port of entry.
“The members of Limpopo Tracking Team, SPS High Risk and Tshimollo Security jointly operationalised the information given and subsequently spotted the motor vehicle fitting the description (at) Sekonye village,” he said.
IOL