PTA couple in court for allegedly shooting cop

Warrant Officer Ben Strydom, 47, was shot in Sinoville, Pretoria, on Thursday morning while trying to arrest a 64-year-old man for fraud, Captain Augustinah Selepe said.

 

When the man saw the police, he tried to escape through another door of the building, but Strydom caught him. The man drew a firearm and shot him before fleeing. A chase ensued.

 

On Moloto Road, the man stopped his car, and shot and wounded himself. He was taken to hospital where he is under police guard.
The man's wife was arrested for fraud, said Selepe.

 

Beeld newspaper reported on Friday that the man and his wife allegedly ran a tourism scam. According to the newspaper they allegedly falsely advertised holidays, then called clients to say their holidays had been cancelled and that they would refund them if they provided their bank details, but instead disappeared with the money.

 

The Afrikaans daily reported that the couple also did not pay for radio advertisements for the supposed holidays.

 

A policeman from Upington, who was also almost scammed by the couple, tracked them down via contacts in the police and a bank.

 

Strydom was previously a media spokesman in Sinoville and won an R80,000 damages claim against the police minister in May for wrongful arrest for the murder of a suspect.

 

(File photo: Gallo images)