Man guilty of female cop’s murder

A 33-year-old Cape Town man was found guilty of murder for running over a female police officer during a high speed car chase.

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Cape Town - Cheswill Adendorf was found guilty in the Western Cape High Court on Thursday of murdering a policeman, police said.

Adendorf, 33, initially faced a charge of culpable homicide, but this was changed to murder after Khayelitsha organised crime prevention officials presented a solid case against him, said police spokesperson FC van Wyk.

He was also found guilty of 18 out of 22 charges ranging from theft of a motor vehicle to robbery and murder.

In April 2014, Adendorf and four others tried to flee police in a stolen vehicle from Gordon’s Bay to Strand.

Van Wyk said police gave chase and set up a barricade in Broadway Road, Strand.

“A female official, whom indicated to the approaching speeding vehicle in which the suspects had been driving in at the time, to stop, had been bumped and driven over in order to prevent police from executing an arrest. The police official died on the scene.”

Police apprehended the suspects not far from the accident scene and they were arrested and charged with a range of crimes including culpable homicide and robbery.

One of the four accomplices has been prosecuted in the Somerset West Magistrates Court and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The other suspects’ trial will be heard in the Strand Magistrates Court.

The Western Cape High Court is awaiting a social report on Adendorf and sentencing is expected to happen on October 15, van Wyk said.

ANA