Durban - Security personnel and community members arrested five housebreaking and theft suspects and recovered stolen goods including bicycles and jewellery over the weekend.Blue Security community and media liaison officer Andreas Mathios said two of the arrests occurred in the Highway and Escombe areas and three arrests took place in the Umbilo and CBD areas.
Mathios said the latest arrest occurred at around 3.30am on Monday after a trespasser entered the property in Drake Road in Cowies Hills.
“The suspect had jumped over the front driveway gate and when our officer arrived he found the padlock for a Wendy house on the property lying on the floor and the suspect inside the property. He arrested the suspect and handed him over to the Pinetown SAPS,” Mathios said.
A suspect was arrested in a similar incident in Rownham Road in Escombe after he entered the property and forced open the door of a shed and outside toilet. He was handed over to the Malvern SAPS.
In Umbilo, an armed response officer noticed a suspect pushing a bicycle along Umbilo Road on Friday at around 6.15am and he stopped to speak to him and to ask where he had obtained the bicycle.
“A community street guard then arrived and told the armed response officer that the suspect had just broken into a storeroom on a property in Ferguson Road in Glenwood and stolen several items,” Mathios said.
“The suspect was arrested and handed over to the Umbilo SAPS. Two bicycles, an extension cord and a grass cutter belonging to the resident were recovered,” Mathios said.
Just 15 minutes later a quick thinking armed response officer arrested a robber and recovered an item of jewellery in Dr Goonam Street in the Durban CBD.
“The officer responded to a panic alarm at the property where a woman advised that she had been hit over the head with a wooden plank and robbed of her gold chain as she took out the rubbish. Members of the public assisted the officer with the hunt for the suspect who was arrested and handed over to Durban Central SAPS at the scene,” Mathios said.
Mathios said a motorist apprehended a vehicle thief in Umbilo at around noon on Friday.
“The motorist caught the suspect red handed inside his Toyota Corolla which was parked in Magwaza Maphalala Street. He had implements that are used to break into vehicles in his possession,” Mathios said.
The suspect was taken to the Umbilo SAPS.