A coordinated effort between Atlas Security and the SAPS in Gqeberha has led to a breakthrough, with the arrest of suspects linked to a spate of muggings and robberies in the Summerstrand area.
On Friday night, Atlas response teams responded to two separate incidents in Summerstrand involving victims being robbed of their belongings by armed suspects.
The first incident occurred in Admiralty Way just before 11 pm when a student was robbed outside a property.
The victim was approached by four men who pulled up in a grey vehicle.
They brandished a firearm and robbed the victim of several items.
Later in the evening, four women flagged down an Atlas response vehicle and reported to have been robbed of their belongings, seemingly by four men in the same grey vehicle.
The women could provide the vehicle's license plate numbers.
At 1:26 am, an Atlas response vehicle in Summerstrand spotted the grey vehicle in 2nd Avenue and continued to monitor its movements as it attempted to evade capture.
Shortly after 2 am the vehicle was spotted in Rose Street, in Central.
On realising the significance of the sighting, the team flagged down members of the SAPS in Parliament Street and briefed them on the vehicle and the armed robberies.
By 2:21 am SAPS had deployed backup and together with Atlas Security vehicles, set up strategic positions on different streets, waiting for the suspects to approach the vehicle.
The suspects were arrested at 3:26 am.
Upon searching the vehicle, police recovered several stolen items, including a gas gun replica and a knife.
According to Atlas, the suspects, the vehicle, and the recovered weapons have already been positively linked to multiple cases in Summerstrand.
