Google snapped an armed robbery on Street View

Two armed thugs leap out of a auto and hijack a security van on a quiet suburban street in Johannesburg in these terrifying images caught on Google Street View.

He can be seen sitting in a small shed with his legs crossed at a crossroads on Junction Road near the upmarket Sandton suburb of South Africa’s largest city in images taken in February.

The incident can be seen unfolding as the Google auto passes, with the men pulling up behind the van, approaching it, and forcing the driver out onto the roadside. The vehicle they are threatening belongs to an ADT private security guard.

Shock: Google said it takes the safety of its Street View auto drivers, who work on a short-term basis as contractors, “very seriously”. Right across the street – which is plastered with ADT sign boards, mind – sits what looks like another security guard, completely unaware of what’s taking place just outside his booth.

A spokesperson for the company told The Independent that Google Street View had captured a “bona fide” incident where an employee’s gun was stolen.

It is also not clear whether the van in this incident was on patrol or was responding to an alarm call from a customer.

The intersection showing the armed robbery in progress as well as the security guard not noticing it.

According to Theunis Kotze, a general manager at ADT, the officer was not harmed. He said it was an “opportunistic crime where an ADT reaction officer was held at gunpoint by two criminals in Johannesburg”.

“The South African Police Services (SAPS), along with ADT, investigated the incident but no arrests were made at the time”.

Google Street View vehicles capture some pretty unusual stuff as they go about their business.