Johannesburg - Joburg police are in possession of more CCTV footage showing a tow truck driver breaking into cars in the CBD and surrounding areas.
However, the footage could not be released as investigations are at a “sensitive stage”.
“We are currently investigating a number of cases. Revealing details of the footage might jeopardise our case,” said Hillbrow police spokesman Constable Mduduzi Zondo.
He confirmed they were investigating a series of smash-and-grab cases involving a tow-truck driver or drivers.
Zondo said they were looking into at least three cases.
Two other cases were being investigated from Johannesburg Central police station, said Warrant Officer Xoli Mbele.
“At this stage we cannot say whether it’s one person or more doing the crime,” added Zondo.
On Monday, The Star published a story and pictures of a smash-and-grab incident that took place in Newtown around 2pm last Tuesday.
The driver was caught on camera approaching a Chevrolet parked in Jeppe Street and then breaking the front passenger window using an unidentified object. He took a laptop and other valuables.
The break-in and theft last two minutes.
The driver was arrested the following day after showing up at an accident scene on the corner of Marshall and Auret streets.
He appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday and was released on bail. He will return to court in January.
However, more victims have come forward alleging that the driver was responsible for similar attacks in the past two months.
A Joburg woman, whose name is known to The Star, said her Hyundai ix35 was broken into while she was watching from a distance at Constitution Hill.
“I was inside the library (at the Constitutional Court) but I could see my car through the window. I saw a white tow truck park next to my car,” said the woman.
“The next minute, I saw security guards running towards the driver, but he was driving away.”
She said the window of her passenger front side was broken. The man fled the scene with her bag and other personal belongings.
And a car guard in Sunninghill was told to back off or he would be killed when he caught a tow-truck driver breaking into a customer’s vehicle last week.
The guard said he had approached two suspicious-looking men at the parking lot.
They told him they were waiting for friends.
“After a few minutes, I ran towards them after learning that they had broken into a customer’s car. When I approached them, they told me to stay away or else I would die,” said the man, adding that a laptop was taken from the vehicle.
The Star