Robbery Gone Wrong

While doing some research for another post, I ran across this viral video from 2021 and it reminded me that I wanted to talk about it.

The video shows the dashcam footage of a Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions CIT (Cash In Transit) armored vehicle, carrying around a hundred grand of expensive high-tech equipment (cell phones in this case), getting ambushed in South Africa by thugs carrying AK-47’s. The driver of the CIT vehicle (Leo Prinsloo) demonstrated that cool heads will prevail, as he evaded the attackers.

The attempted robbery of the CIT vehicle took place on April 22, 2021, in the city of Pretoria, South Africa. As the Armor Max armored Toyota Land Cruiser was driving on the N4, two vehicles approached the CIT vehicle (a black Audi and a white Ford Ranger), in an attempt to rob the vehicle. This type of robbery was common in South Africa as the police were being bought, but more on that later. In fact, there have been several others that didn’t end so well. We will get to those in a few, but right now I wanted to talk about this one. The attackers opened fire, in an attempt to get the driver to stop or overreact and crash. In this case the 2 1/2 minute attack, the attackers fired 30 7.62mm rounds at the armored Toyota with 13 rounds hitting the vehicle. I swear Leo must have one hell of a big set of balls.

The aftermath... https://t.co/XwgSJIRfVo pic.twitter.com/NTIGkd0Q4E
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) April 30, 2021

As the bad guys started to open fire on the vehicle. Leo Prinsloo, used his training and his defensive driving skills, leading the bad guys on a high-speed chase back and forth on the N4. Leo remained calm the entire time, cool and collected as he navigated the Land Cruiser to a safer area, in the process he rammed both attack vehicles rendering both vehicles inoperable, as he also got the CIT vehicle stuck.

Now, just off the highway and in front of a McDonald’s restaurant, he and partner Lloyd Mtombeni (who was only on his fourth day with Fortis), prepared to confront the attackers with their AR-15 and pistols. However, the attackers turned their tail and ran.

“There is nothing that can really prepare you 100% for a situation like that,” said Leo

So, how did Leo Prinsloo remain so calm and was able to navigate the Land Cruiser at high speed all while demonstrating his defensive driving skills, it was almost like he does this every day. Well…. 52-year-old Leo Prinsloo is a former (served for 12 years) SAPS Special Task Force (elite police tactical unit of the South African Police Service) sniper and he rose to the rank of Captain. After he left the SAPS, Leo has also been a bodyguard for Prince Charles, the Kardashians, and Nelson Mandela. He is now the head instructor of Fortis Pro Active Defence Solutions Lone Operator courses and owner of the Edge Shooting Academy in Centurion. This CIT gig was just a side hustle for him and I think the attackers picked the wrong CIT vehicle to rob, as they obviously were no match for Leo.

In the video, you can hear him instructing Mtombeni with commands like “They’re going to shoot. They’re going to f****** shoot.”, “Phone Robbie, phone Josh. Ask them where they are.”

Final score good guys 1 bad guys 0 (plus one bad guy died and they left with no money). And the badass of the week is Leo Prinsloo.

For those of you who are stating that Mtombeni did nothing and he was lost, first, it was his 4th day on the job, so it is very likely that he didn’t know what to do, as he was still training; second, you were not there, so I don’t want to hear how much better you would have done something different. You have the ability to watch it happen and not have the high pressure of bullets flying at you; third, the cabin of the vehicle is very small and cramped, there is no room for him to maneuver the AR-15, nor do the windows function as they are armored, all he could do was sit there and enjoy the ride. There is a spot in the video, where he hands the AR-15 to Leo, if you pay attention, you will notice that the vehicle was stopped or nearly stopped, so Lloyd likely thought that Leo was going to exit the vehicle.

And for those that said that Mtombeni could have called the police, their boss, or someone. One part that the video doesn’t highlight, but according to the police after the investigation, the attackers had a cellular jammer, which made communication to outside help, impossible.

Apparently, there were several huge busts following this video, including arresting several police officials.