Cape Town - A cellphone thief’s creative escape came to naught as he joined 18 other suspects who were arrested by the City’s enforcement services in the past week.
Metro police officers from Cape Town gave chase after the suspect robbed a woman of her cellphone while she was waiting for a taxi in Delft on Friday, 3 July 2020. The thief ran away and disappeared between houses.
Officers got permission from homeowners to search their premises and found the suspect laying in a bed pretending to be asleep. The victim’s cell phone was still in his possession.
"This is certainly one of the most creative getaway attempts we have seen in a while, and while it turned into a bit of a nightmare for the thief, I am very happy that our staff was able to help a resident in distress. Very often, these supposed petty crimes go unresolved, but there’s merit to making arrests where the opportunity presents itself, because sometimes the suspects are not new to crime and can be linked to other incidents," said Mayco Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith.
Metro police officers arrested two repeat offenders in Khayelitsha in separate domestic violence incidents.
A 30-year-old woman complained that her boyfriend assaulted her and fled when he saw the officers. He was arrested after a short chase and it was later discovered that he had breached an interim court interdict.
In another incident, officers arrested a man for assaulting his wife. It emerged that the suspect already has a pending case of domestic violence at the Harare police station.
"Violence against women and children are a stain on our communities and officers across the Safety and Security Directorate deal with the issue on a weekly basis. Our Joint Operations Centre reports that complaints of domestic and gender-based violence have increased in recent months.
"In both these cases, the men were repeat offenders. Complainants must contact the police immediately when a court interdict is contravened and not wait for another act of violence. In June, metro police attended to 28 complaints of domestic violence and this is 28 too many. Most often officers are only called after the incident and the perpetrator has disappeared," said Smith
In other enforcement efforts, the Cape Town Traffic Service arrested two suspects and issued 16 341 fines, while law enforcement made five arrests and conducted 91 operations.