Veteran racing driver Willie Hepburn appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in connection with charges of possession of stolen property. Meanwhile, police have raided a possible chop shop in Kempton Park.
Veteran racing driver Willie Hepburn appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in connection with charges of possession of stolen property.
He was not asked to plead and no evidence was led. He will appear in court again on October 11.
CARtoday.com reported on Wednesday that Hepburn was arrested after North Rand police raided his smallholding in Kyalami on Monday. Police suspect he has been running a chop shop on his property.
North Rand police spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman said nine vehicles were confiscated during a raid on Monday night after it was found they had been either hijacked or stolen. Investigating officers with the North Rand Serious Violent Crimes Unit estimate the value of the vehicles to be about R500 000, but this could increase once they had sorted through all the parts.
"There are so many engines and other car parts that we have to go through to identify and establish where they come from. It is going to take a number of days before we sift through everything," Opperman said.
"We have established that the property where the cars and parts were found belongs to the driver. He could face further charges of theft of motor vehicles and hijacking if our investigations can substantiate this," the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the North Rand Police raided another suspected chop shop in Kempton Park on Thursday.
Opperman said it was a combined operation between the police, defence force and metro police involving about 50 officers. “We have a lot of parts to go through, but we have already established that seven of the vehicles are stolen and we expect to make at least two arrests,” he said.
