Two car thieves die after police pursuit

A POLICE chase through the streets of Windhoek ended in the death of two suspected car thieves on Wednesday afternoon, just beyond the Rehoboth roadblock south of the city.

A third suspect was wounded and arrested. The trio had been travelling in a Nissan V6 bakkie that had been reported stolen to the Namibian Police on Saturday afternoon.Police at the scene said that after a failed search for the vehicle since the weekend, officers on duty spotted it at an unidentified location on Wednesday afternoon.They approached the vehicle to search it and confirm whether it was the one reported stolen over the weekend, but the suspects sped off.Police gave chase, and orders were given to other officers to stand guard at the Rehoboth roadblock.Police surrounded the suspects just metres from the roadblock.The suspects had tried to bypass the roadblock by using a section of gravel road along a private plot, belonging to the Trustco Group.According to City Police spokesperson Marx Hipandua, Police fired warning shots in an attempt to stop the suspects, but these failed to deter them.Police then shot at the bakkie, and a number of shots hit the suspects.The suspect who survived the incident, identified only as MJ Timoteus, was the driver.He was rushed to hospital.Inside the bakkie, Police found four fuel canisters, one filled with diesel.They also found a map of Namibia, rations including canned fish, bread and milk, and a wallet containing N$1 160 in cash.The licence plates of the bakkie had been changed, and a corresponding licence disk was attached to the windscreen to avoid detection, Police say.It is believed that the three suspect had visited the plot before, because the locks on the gates had been tampered with to give them easy access, the Police say.The owner of the bakkie, who arrived on the scene within an hour of the incident, said the vehicle’s keys were stolen from his house in Windhoek about a month ago.”My housekeeper had been vacuuming and said that she heard something.But when she checked there was no one,” he said.The bakkie had been stolen from the Engen Service Station at the Single Quarters in Katutura.The owner, a teacher at a local high school, said he had been attending a school function when the theft happened.He thanked the Police for the recovery of the vehicle, but expressed remorse over the fact that this had to be at the expense of two lives.”Its unfortunate that two men had to die here, but let this be a lesson to others out there.The Namibian Police won’t be taking any nonsense from you any more,” he told reporters.Deputy Chief of the City Police Nathala Nendongo told reporters that the Inspector General of the Namibian Police had ordered swift action against the increasing incidents of car theft, especially in the Windhoek area.It is being speculated that the men might have made use of a known criminal route used to bypass roadblocks to get stolen cars to Angola.”That seems to be where the market is,” a Police source said.A false Angolan identity document was discovered on one of the suspects.The trio had been travelling in a Nissan V6 bakkie that had been reported stolen to the Namibian Police on Saturday afternoon.Police at the scene said that after a failed search for the vehicle since the weekend, officers on duty spotted it at an unidentified location on Wednesday afternoon.They approached the vehicle to search it and confirm whether it was the one reported stolen over the weekend, but the suspects sped off.Police gave chase, and orders were given to other officers to stand guard at the Rehoboth roadblock.Police surrounded the suspects just metres from the roadblock.The suspects had tried to bypass the roadblock by using a section of gravel road along a private plot, belonging to the Trustco Group. According to City Police spokesperson Marx Hipandua, Police fired warning shots in an attempt to stop the suspects, but these failed to deter them.Police then shot at the bakkie, and a number of shots hit the suspects.The suspect who survived the incident, identified only as MJ Timoteus, was the driver.He was rushed to hospital.Inside the bakkie, Police found four fuel canisters, one filled with diesel.They also found a map of Namibia, rations including canned fish, bread and milk, and a wallet containing N$1 160 in cash.The licence plates of the bakkie had been changed, and a corresponding licence disk was attached to the windscreen to avoid detection, Police say.It is believed that the three suspect had visited the plot before, because the locks on the gates had been tampered with to give them easy access, the Police say.The owner of the bakkie, who arrived on the scene within an hour of the incident, said the vehicle’s keys were stolen from his house in Windhoek about a month ago.”My housekeeper had been vacuuming and said that she heard something.But when she checked there was no one,” he said.The bakkie had been stolen from the Engen Service Station at the Single Quarters in Katutura.The owner, a teacher at a local high school, said he had been attending a school function when the theft happened.He thanked the Police for the recovery of the vehicle, but expressed remorse over the fact that this had to be at the expense of two lives.”Its unfortunate that two men had to die here, but let this be a lesson to others out there.The Namibian Police won’t be taking any nonsense from you any more,” he told reporters.Deputy Chief of the City Police Nathala Nendongo told reporters that the Inspector General of the Namibian Police had ordered swift action against the increasing incidents of car theft, especially in the Windhoek area.It is being speculated that the men might have made use of a known criminal route used to bypass roadblocks to get stolen cars to Angola.”That seems to be where the market is,” a Police source said.A false Angolan identity document was discovered on one of the suspects.