Eight arrested in fight against crime

CAR thieves, shoplifters and an intruder were among a string of alleged criminals arrested by vigilant Blue Security reaction officers, business owners and staff on the Berea and in central Durban over the past week.

Blue Security operations director Henk van Bemmelen said eight arrests were made and suspects were handed over to the SAPS.

“One of our reaction officers who was alerted to a crime in progress arrested two car thieves who were in the process of stealing a black Dodge parked in Field Street. The thieves were sitting in the car when our reaction officer confronted and arrested them,” van Bemmelen said.

He said Metro Police officers attended the scene, established who the owner of the car was and called her to the scene. The suspects were handed over to Durban Central SAPS.

In a second incident a reaction officer was called to a property in JB Marks Road in Glenwood after a resident spotted an intruder in her neighbour’s garden.

“When he conducted a check on the property he found the intruder had broken into the garage where he was hiding. He arrested the intruder and handed him over to the Umbilo SAPS,” van Bemmelen said.

In Station Road in Stamford Hill a business owner called Blue Security to the scene of a crime after she arrested a staff member for stealing tracksuit tops, while unlucky shoplifters targeted a central garage.

“A central garage owner arrested three shoplifters on two separate occasions last week after they tried to steal several items including 17 slabs of chocolate and sliced cheese. The alleged shoplifters were handed over to the Durban Central SAPS,” van Bemmelen said.

He said petrol attendants in Cato Manor had also gone beyond the call of duty after they chased down and arrested two shoplifters for stealing a box of chocolates.

“Our reaction officers working together with the community and the police have with these latest arrests continued to send out a strong message to criminals that their activities will not be tolerated in the areas that we patrol. We urge residents to join us in showing zero tolerance for the so-called lesser crimes of theft and trespassing by opening charges against perpetrators to show that we are serious about winning the fight against crime,” he said.

Van Bemmelen warned residents to be vigilant following robberies in Glenwood including an incident where a gang of four men robbed a man of his cellphone and bag while he was waiting for a lift in Grosvenor Road, and another where a jogger was mugged of his gun while he was running in Blanche Road at 5am in the morning.