Phone stolen at shopping mall recovered with quick action
What could have been a nightmare quickly turned into a rescue mission for one Mbombela resident at i'langa Mall.
Lynette van Huyssteen was shopping at Pick n Pay and had just arrived at the cashier when she noticed her cellphone was missing.
“I had taken a call from my husband and I suspect the thief saw me put it back in my handbag,” Van Huyssteen said.
She immediately alerted the floor manager, Sipho Chambale, who went to check the security footage. However, they could not pick up anything out of the ordinary.
Van Huyssteen’s daughters locked the phone remotely and tried to track it.
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“Sipho jumped into the car with us and we tried to locate the phone. We stopped at Tiger Wheel and Tyre, where two taxis were waiting to drive off. The taxis knew we were looking for a stolen phone, as Sipho was making inquiries with them.
“We went around to Tiger Wheel and Tyre for further investigation, and then saw on the app that the thief was on the move, going fast, possibly in one of the two taxis,” she said.
“We followed on the R40 towards White River and at the Emnotweni intersection one taxi was stopped at the red robot. The second taxi parked next to us and in frantically indicated to the first one, as they knew we were looking for the phone. The thief was sitting in the first taxi with my phone in his hand, ready to jump and run, but Sipho stopped him and got it back.
“I just want to thank Sipho, my daughters, the two taxis, as well as the white vehicle that stopped behind us to lend assistance. There are still good people in the country. This was an hour and a half’s operation,” she concluded.
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