A man was reportedly arrested after a short chase at Midwater Centre yesterday afternoon, after he allegedly stole from two vehicles.

On a viral screenshot of a Facebook post, it was reported that the suspect was out on R2000 bail after appearing in court on May 19 for shoplifting.

He was allegedly also caught stealing at Middelburg Mall, resulting in the court appearance.

The suspect, according to the shared message, comes from Pretoria.

The suspect was chased down after the centre locked the entry gates.

According to the message he copped to the thefts, and luckily, stolen items were returned to the owners, including a bag containing a work laptop and a wallet with bank cards stolen from a separate vehicle.

Vehicles with central-locking systems are targeted in the thefts.

A widely available gate remote is used to block the central locking system when both the gate remote and car-lock is pressed at the same time.

Thefts can be foiled by simply checking whether the central-locking system did its job after locking the vehicle, by pulling on the vehicle handle.

Its unclear whether the suspect has appeared on the fresh charges.

According to the unverified message, the remote used in the thefts even jammed the locking system of a police van when it was tested.