LEGEND IN
THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME KILLED
Those who knew
him hailed Jaco Pretorius ‘ A legend in the
fight against crime.’
Pretorius was a detective at Krugersdorp police
station in the late-1990s before joining the special
investigations unit (which looked at serious crimes
such as cash-in-transit heists) in Pretoria
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About 10-years ago, Jaco joined Pretoria’s
Protea Coin Security, and moved up the ranks to become
the companies managing director.
On Wednesday, Pretorius was killed when,
true to form, he tried to assist in apprehending a robber.
The shooting happened after a botched
attempted robbery on Sterns at the Irene Village Mall..
Three robbers hit the jewellers at 09:00
and held up staff. They had started to gather together
the jewelry when a security guard on patrol frightened
them off.
National police spokesperson Sally de
Beer said Pretorius was en route to a meeting with a colleague
in his Toyota Prado when he spotted the suspect. He tried
to help the security guard by obstructing the suspect's
path.
"The suspect fired a shot into the
vehicle through the open rear passenger window, hitting
Jaco in the upper body. Jaco drove away, reportedly to
drive to hospital on realising that he was wounded.
On the R21 he died from his injuries and his vehicle came
to a standstill," she said.
He was hit in the chest.
Pretorius is survived by his wife Karen,
and children Ricardo, 8, and Marco, 3.
Kader Khan
Editor
info@yummie.co.za
