Members of the SAPS Nebo Tracking Team made a major breakthrough after they re-arrested a 29-year-old most wanted suspect in Jane Furse, Sekhukhune District.
The arrest happened on Friday 14 April 2023 when Lesley Chuenyane was arrested after escaping from police custody in 2018 while being transported to prison in Witbank, Mpumalanga province.
Chuenyane was first arrested in 2018 after he was linked to four counts of rape committed at Nebo policing area. The suspect was positively linked with the cases through forensic evidence and his victims were between 20 and 30 years of age.
On that day, a group of awaiting trial prisoners allegedly cut through the burglar window of a police van after it stopped at Laersdrift policing area in Mpumalanga province. The other suspects were re-arrested shortly after the incident with assistance of the local farmers but Chuenyane managed to escape and has been on the run since.
It is believed the suspect went on and committed serious crimes at Nebo policing area from 2018 until this year which include robberies and hijacking.
He was positively linked to the robbery that took place at Nebo Traffic Department where two security guards were allegedly robbed of their service firearms.
One of the firearms was recovered at the suspect’s homestead in Nebo after police were tipped off about its existence. The suspect it is alleged he accosted yet two other security officers at Phokwane Clinic and robbed them of their belongings including cellphones.
The suspect was also linked to an incident in which a traffic officer was hijacked his private motor vehicle at gunpoint. The stolen VW Polo motor vehicle was later recovered after the suspect abandoned it when he was cornered by the police.
The suspect also further robbed a female victim of her belongings at gunpoint. The woman is reportedly his former classmate.
The suspect’s reign of terror ended when the members of this task team pounced on him at a rented room in Jane Furse on Friday 14 April 2023.
The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has welcomed the arrest of this suspect and applauded the members of this task team for re-arresting this heartless criminal and putting him back to jail where he belongs.
The suspect is facing over 10 charges ranging from rape, carjacking and robbery.
He had already appeared in the Nebo Magistrate’s Court today on one count of robbery. He was remanded in custody until 05 May 2023. He will still appear in the same court on other changes. Meanwhile, he is expected to appear in Mpumalanga province on a charge of escaping from lawful custody.
Police investigation continues.
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