Three arrested in Midrand, one wearing full traffic cop uniform

Gauteng traffic police arrested three suspects, one of whom was allegedly wearing an Ekurhuleni metropolitan police department uniform, in Midrand on Wednesday morning.

“The members of the Gauteng traffic police were conducting a routine roadside check when they noticed a suspicious white Nissan NP 300 approaching them,” spokesperson Sello Maremane said.

Maremane said the officers noticed  that one of the suspects, a 34-year-old Zimbabwean, was wearing an EMPD uniform.

“The officers interrogated the suspects and established that they were not officers and the suspects offered to bribe the officers with R20,000 to avoid arrest.”

The suspects were arrested and detained at Midrand police station.

The traffic police also recovered two full sets of EMPD uniforms, three traffic officers’ reflective jackets, EMPD boots, signal jammers with 10 aerials and a car battery, a panga, four cellphones, and a replica 9mm firearm. The bakkie was also impounded.

All three suspects are expected to appear in the Midrand magistrate’s court on Thursday morning to face charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer, corruption and possession of a signal jammer.

“The Gauteng traffic police would like to urge the criminal justice system to impose a harsh sentence on these suspects as they tarnish the reputation of hard-working law enforcement officers in the province,” Maremane said.

TimesLIVE