A 16-hour stand-off between police and a man who had threatened to shoot himself at Phoenix outside Durban ended when the man dozed off on Thursday afternoon and was arrested.
Police spokesperson Inspector Alan Govender said: ”He reclined himself in the driver’s seat, he appeared to be in the process of dozing off, and the lack of concentration gave members of the tactical reaction unit a chance to pounce on him.”
Govender said the drama started at 8.30pm on Wednesday when the man’s wife asked a policeman friend of theirs to trace her husband, a salesman, who had been missing for two days and who was suspected of having stolen money from his company.
According to the friend, when he met the man he was armed, they chatted and then he became ”abusive, vulgar and very aggressive”.
Govender said the man then asked to speak to his wife on the policeman’s cellphone. After the call he threatened to kill her, his mother and his stepfather.
He then jumped in his car and drove of with the policeman — who had alerted other officers — in hot pursuit.
Govender said the man stopped and ran into the bush and the policeman took the man’s company car to a police station.
”When he returned to fetch him, the man asked the policeman to take him to his wife, but along the way ordered him to stop in the parking area of a shopping centre and threatened to shoot himself.”
Hostage negotiators and the police’s reaction unit arrived at the scene. The man asked that his wife and members of the Independent Complaints Directorate be brought to him.
By that time police had managed to persuade him to hand over four rounds of ammunition, but he still had two live rounds in his gun, said Govender.
He said the man’s wife arrived at the scene before midnight and climbed into the car but was only allowed to leave the vehicle at 4am on Thursday. Govender said negotiations continued and only at about 12.15pm on Thursday were police able to arrest him.
He said the man’s sister-in-law arrived at the scene. As he was being taken away the woman was also bundled into the police vehicle after hurling abuse at police officers.
Govender said: ”When they arrived at the police station she was very remorseful and on humanitarian grounds we let her off on a verbal warning.”
It was alleged that the man, who was responsible for collecting money for his company, could have stolen R30 000 to R40 000.
The man was charged with contravening the Firearms Control Act, and theft. – Sapa