A suspected thief has been seriously injured when he was attacked by a mob in the Pretoria city centre after he and an accomplice stole bank cards and phones belonging to two females.
What followed was like a scene from National Geographic where a pack of wolves attack their prey. People dished out mob justice until police arrived on the scene.
It all began on Wednesday when two students from the Academy of Business and Computer Studies were making their way home along Vermeulen Street.
They were approached by two men who asked them if they were interested in buying a bag at half price. One of the girls expressed interest, while her friend said she was not interested.
They went into a food outlet, but the two men followed them inside
“One of the suspects asked if he could see my phone and I told him it was off. He shouted at me and said ‘don’t you want free airtime’? My friend then gave him her phone and I did the same,” said one of the girls.
She said one of the suspects then asked for their bank cards. She was a bit suspicious when the suspect said that, but her friend took out her bank card.
“The suspect said I should also give him mine, so that if my friend’s card did not work in paying for the bag, he could use mine. He then walked away and said he was going to fetch the bag,” she said.
One suspect remained with them. One of the girls decided to follow him while her friend remained with the other suspect. They walked to Andries Street, where the suspect told her to wait for him.
“I stood there and when he started to run I followed him. I managed to catch up with him and I grabbed him by the arm and started screaming for help,” she said.
People heard her cries and a man approached her to ask what was going on. When she explained, the man caught the suspect and took him to a bus stop next to the Pretoria News building where his friend had remained with the other girl.
“As we were moving, the girl kept saying the suspect had taken their bank cards and phones. When he got there he said he wanted to call his friend to bring the items back,” the man said.
When the other suspect saw his friend being held and walking in his direction, he bolted, leaving an angry mob assaulting his colleague.
The mob attacked the suspect until police arrived. The two girls said they had written their pin numbers on the back of their bank cards and it would have been easy for the suspects to withdraw money from their accounts had they managed to get away with the cards.
The suspect who was assaulted was taken to hospital in an ambulance. Police spokeswoman Captain Louise Reed said when a suspect had been injured and was taken to hospital, “they are placed under police supervision until they are released”.
The suspect will be charged with theft once he has been released from hospital. - Pretoria News