Pretoria – The police tracking team at Nebo, in Limpopo, made a major breakthrough when they 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,” according to Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba.
Chuenyane was initially arrested in 2018 after he was linked to four counts of rape committed in the 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,” said Ledwaba.
He said on the day Chuenyane escaped from custody in 2018, 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.
“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,” Ledwaba said.
“It is believed the suspect went on (after the escape) 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 stolen firearms was allegedly recovered at Chuenyane’s homestead in Nebo after police were tipped off about its existence.
“The suspect, it is alleged he accosted 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 of his private motor vehicle at gunpoint,” Ledwaba said.
“The stolen Volkswagen Polo motor vehicle was later recovered after the suspect abandoned it when he was cornered by the police. The suspect also robbed a female victim of her belongings at gunpoint. The woman is reportedly his former classmate.”
Police said Chuenyane’s reign of terror came to an end when members of the task team pounced on him at a rented room in Jane Furse on Friday.
Provincial commissioner of police in Limpopo, Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe has welcomed Chuenyane’s arrest, and saluted the task team members “for re-arresting this heartless criminal and putting him back in jail where he belongs”.
Chuenyane is facing over 10 charges ranging from rape, carjacking and robbery. He appeared before the Nebo Magistrate’s Court in Limpopo on Monday on one count of robbery, where he was remanded in custody until May 5.
He is expected to appear in the same court for the other crimes.
Chuenyane is also scheduled to appear in a Mpumalanga court on a charge of escaping from lawful custody.
IOL