Cape Town - A crowbar gang on a “shopping spree” met their match after they burgled two homes, but alert cops caught them within an hour.
Manenberg station commander, Colonel Sanele Zama, says the gang of four men aged between 28 and 30 were cornered by a large contingent of cops after they were spotted in Primrose Park on Friday.
He says the drama started at 11 am that day when the four suspects, driving a white VW Polo and dressed in reflector jackets, pretended to be workmen and gained access to a Mowbray home where they raided valuables.
About 30 minutes later, the gang went to Primrose Park where they broke into another house.
“Officers of the SAPS K9 Unit, along with the Flying Squad, received information of a suspicious vehicle driving in Primrose Park,” says Zama.
“Officers patrolled the area and found the suspicious white VW Polo with four occupants in it. When they saw police, they tried to drive away but were cornered.”
He says officers discovered that the vehicle had been hired and the suspects changed the number plates and tinted the windows without the company’s permission.
The suspects hired this VW Polo to go on their crime spree. Picture: Monique Duval
The car was loaded with a flat-screen TV, cellphones, laptops, money and the thieves even stole blankets to wrap the electronic goods in.
The stolen items were worth more than R100 000.
Zama says Detective Sergeant Daryl van Noi was assigned to the case and the suspects were immediately linked to both burglaries.
“The detective retrieved personal information from a laptop he found in the vehicle and the person came to the station and identified several items, including the laptop.
Items worth R100 000 were found in the suspects' possession. Picture: Monique Duval
“These men are definitely linked to a broader crime syndicate as the men could hire a vehicle, pay a huge sum as a deposit to hire the vehicle, then alter the vehicle’s appearance by changing number plates and tinting windows. None of them are employed,” he says.
The suspects spent the weekend behind bars in Manenberg and made their first appearance at Athlone Magistrates’ Court on Monday, where the matter was postponed for further investigations.
They were sent to Pollsmoor Prison and their next court appearance is on 29 June.