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A bungling thief was arrested after robbing a Johannesburg shop, dropping his ID and then going back to the scene of the crime to look for it, police have said. He was expected to appear in Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court last week Tuesday to face a charge of armed robbery.

Inspector Richard Munyai said the man and an accomplice entered a shop in Jeppe and allegedly held the owner at gunpoint. She handed over two cellphones and airtime worth R600. The woman then managed to call her husband who confronted the pair.

During the ensuing struggle one of the suspects dropped his ID before both ran away. The man later returned to the shop, in what police believe was an attempt to get his ID back, and was apprehended by customers. Munyai said that the man had recently been released from jail for a carjacking which took place at the same shop. His accomplice was still at large.

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