“I don’t think he expected me to chase him down,” said Cathleen Bezuidenhout, referring to the ladder thief she caught on Wednesday last week.
And yes, it is highly unlikely the young man caught stealing from a home on Highveld Road thought the 30-year-old mother of three would manage to outrun him, either.
But Bezuidenhout, who is a wellness coach and co-runs a boot camp, did just that.
The fitness guru managed to chase down a thief who had just stolen from a house opposite her husband’s company, Bezuidenhout Attorneys, on Highveld Road.
“I was sitting inside the office working at about 12.30pm when my dad, who was outside, saw the thief jump over the fence into the yard of the house,” Bezuidenhout explains.
Cobus Uys (57) alerted his daughter, who quickly reacted by running outside. By the time she got there, the thief was jumping out of the premises, carrying a bag and a stepladder.
Uys shouted at the thief, who started making a run for it upon realising he had been caught in the act. Without thinking twice, the brave former neighbourhood watch member immediately ran after the suspect.
She chased him down Highveld Road and finally cornered him on Kweper Street.
“Luckily on Wednesdays I wear my gym clothes, so I think that also helped,” she joked.
Soon after she had chased him down, Uys came by in his car and Alpha Security arrived a few moments later. Bezuidenhout had called them while running after the suspect.
Police were also on the scene.
“Our Alpha vehicle responded to the call and arrived at the scene to find the suspect in the custody of Mrs Bezuidenhout,” said general manager for Alpha Security, Morné le Grange.
Kempton Park SAPS were called to the scene and the suspect was taken to the police station, said Le Grange.
“I think Bezuidenhout is an outstanding community member and that she showed us how working together can help take criminals off the streets,” Le Grange said.
This was not the first time Bezuidenhout chased down a thief. She once ran after another man who had entered her home, just two weeks after she had given birth.
