Court withdraws stolen property charges despite “confession”
Members of the Sector 3 emergency group and officers of HISQ and Titon Security, arrested a man for the possession of suspected stolen property after the Luttig Street electrical substation was stripped.
The municipality has incurred damages of an estimated R300 000 with the vandalisation of the substation.
Apart from metal panels, a large amount of 15mm electrical cables were also stolen. Electrical parts were damaged beyond repair.
The substation is often vandalised for scrap metal, which the suspect was caught with, and electrical cables.
The man was arrested shortly after 08:00 on Tuesday morning, with two footplates from the substation in his possession. A second man succeeded in evading arrest.
They were seen tampering with the substation by a Sector 3 emergency group member who followed them before more Sector 3 members, Titon and HISQ joined the manhunt.
Police charged the arrested suspect with possession of stolen property but on Wednesday the court withdrew the case and the suspect was released, despite all present on the scene of the arrest saying that the suspect “confessed”.
• In a separate incident on Sunday, Mid Alarms and Titon Security arrested a man for trespassing.
He was arrested in Rand Street on Sunday morning after he allegedly trespassed on premises in Newton Street, patrolled by Titon Security.
As Titon reaction officers closed in on the suspect, he fled to an adjacent business property. After about an hour’s search, he was found at a Mid Alarms protected property and arrested.
According to a worker in the area, the suspect was allegedly also involved in a business break-in on Friday night in the same industrial area.
Due to a lack of evidence, he will not be charged for breaking into the business.
