Residents from Erasmia, who were curious after seeing a number of police vehicles at a petrol station in Erasmia, parked off around the station, some sitting in their cars and watching, whilst others walked nearer to the station to find out what all the hype was about.
The incident which occurred at around 2pm this past Monday (Sept 26), at Dawson’s Caltex Garage, on the Erasmia Main Road, resulted in the Laudium Sun being called by a number of residents, asking the reporters to “come quickly, as a stolen car was found by police.”
A bystander, Salim Ahmed, who was ‘observing’ the scene as more police cars with sirens wailing arrived, told the Laudium Sun, “a local dealer, was about to sell a car to one of the owners of the garage, who has a car dealership in another area. However unbeknown to both of them, the car which was bought by the dealer at an auction was reported stolen.”
It is believed, that Scorpion Security, received information about the stolen car and were monitoring its movement. Police were called in when the car stopped at the Caltex Garage in Erasmia. The car, a white Hyundai, Accent, was then towed away by police and the dealer was detained briefly by police for further questioning.
The Laudium Sun spoke to the dealer, Ebrahim Ebrahim (Lego), at the scene who was about to sell the car at Dawson’s Garage, who said, “I bought the Hyundai at an auction, in Midrand. I came here to the garage, to meet the buyer who is also one of the owners of this garage. They have a number of car outlets. I have proof of the purchase and it is all above board. I can’t understand how the police can say that the car is stolen. Either way they should take the matter up with the auctioneer. There are so many bystanders who are watching me, therefore I would like you guys to make it clear to the community that I have all the papers proving that I bought the car at the auction. I want you guys to even phone the auctioneer to confirm the sale.”
The Laudium Sun also spoke to Abdula Ismail, from Dawson’s Garage, who said, “The car was brought to us by a dealer who is known in the community, with the aim of selling it. However before we could even inspect the car, the police arrived. We then heard that the car was suspected to be stolen. We did not buy the car and we were also not in possession of the car, so we cannot say anything further.”
When asked to comment, Jason Azzie from the auctioneer, told the Laudium Sun, “We sold the car in question on behalf of Standard Bank. We are not sure what happened in this case, but we will definetly, together with the bank, investigate it. We are not sure when the car was reported stolen and by who but we will clear the matter up as soon as possible.”
