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Lumbidzani Dima, Court Reporter
THREE armed robbers masqueraded as police officers and raided four homes in Bulawayo, and allegedly robbed the owners of a total of US$29 700, a car and several cellphones at gunpoint.
This emerged when one of the suspects, Tafadzwanashe Zhou (29) of Mhlophe Flats in Mzilikazi suburb appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Nomsa Ncube facing four counts of armed robbery.
He was remanded in custody to January 6.
Prosecutor Ms Ashley Dube said between May and October 2018, Zhou ganged up with Lovemore Ncube and Sibanengi Nhawire, who are both in custody, and raided three houses in Nkulumane and one in Hillside on the pretext that they were police officers.
The trio, which was clad in police uniform, used pistols and toy guns to rob their victims of cash and valuables.
“On May 1, 2018, around 10AM, the accused in the company of his accomplices Lovemore Ncube and Sibanengi Nhawire arrived at the complainant’s home in Nkulumane. They were armed with handcuffs and wearing police uniforms,” she said.
The three men produced a pistol before allegedly robbing the victim of US$14 000 and a cellphone before fleeing the scene.
On August 15, 2018, at about 8AM, the accused person and his accomplices went to the second complainant’s house pretending to be police officers armed with a pistol and handcuffs.
They demanded to search for drugs, accusing the complainant of dealing in illegal drugs and minerals.
“They produced a search warrant to search the house. The accused then threatened the complainant with a pistol and robbed her of US$13 000, $12 000, two cellphones and two tablets. The accused further drove away in the complainant’s car, which they later dumped at Duncan Road in Suburbs,” said Ms Dube.
“On September 29, 2018, at around 7.45PM, the accused person in the company of his accomplices went to complainant three’s house pretending to be police officers armed with a pistol and handcuffs,” she said.
When they entered the house, they accused the complainant of stealing money from his workplace and demanded to search his house and robbed him of US$700.
On October 28, 2018, Zhou and his accomplices wrestled with complainant four who was waiting to get into his house and robbed him of US$2 000.
“While complainant four was waiting for someone to open the gate for him at his place of residence around 6.45PM, the accused person in the company of his accomplices suddenly appeared and parked their vehicle, a Toyota IST without a registration number plate behind the complainant’s car. They drew a toy gun and threatened to shoot the complainant.
“The complainant wrestled with the accused person and overpowered them and took away their toy pistol. During the scuffle, the accused managed to open the complainant’s car and stole a satchel containing cash amounting to US$2 000, national ID and a manual book for his vehicle,” said Ms Dube.
The value of stolen property was $34 760 and only property worth $4 000 was recovered.
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