Armed robbers arrested through forensic evidence

An armed robber was recently arrested after police officers found two spent cartridges and a stolen radio at a crime scene, where a motorist was attacked in Bulawayo.

This was heard when Christopher Danda (35) appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Franklin Mkhwananzi, facing an attempted murder charge on Thursday last week.

Danda was implicated by his alleged accomplice, who was found in possession of a pistol that after a forensic ballistic examination matched the spent cartridges recovered at the scene.

In refusing his bail application, the court noted that Danda was not gainfully employed and his record showed that he was a habitual offender, thus he was likely to continue committing violent crimes.

The court was told that on March 18, 2019 Danda in the company of five accomplices and armed with pistols, approached an unnamed resident who had just parked his car outside the gate of his home in Pumula South.

Danda allegedly produced a pistol, intending to rob the complainant who, however, subsequently took off at high speed after noticing them.

The court heard that the robbers gave chase in a white Mercedes Benz C200 getaway car, which had its number plates covered and fired two shots at the fleeing car.

The resident escaped, but his car had two bullet holes on the driver's door and another on the boot.