Two suspected burglars were back on the streets mere hours after being caught by a local security company after entering a Ballito property in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

According to IPSS Electronic Security’s Brennon Knott, they were notified just before 1am after the Ellis Place homeowner was woken by his dogs barking at a vehicle parked in his driveway.

“Our control room was alerted and sent four vehicles and surrounded the house,” said Knott.

The homeowner, who’s identity is known to The Courier,  said he saw two men sneaking along the inside of one wall of their property where it appeared they had climbed over the neighbour’s wall.

“I immediately called IPSS and they were there within three minutes, they were quickly followed by the police. I was very impressed by the swift reaction.”

Both men were caught and handed over to Umhlali SAPS where they were each given a warning, as the homeowner had not opened a case.

Later that day the homeowner realised it was necessary to open a case against the two intruders but was unable to do so be it was now “too late”.

“At the time, the police told me they would only be able to charge them with trespassing – as they had not been in the house,” he said.

“I hesitated to go through all the effort of opening a case for this reason, but I have since decided it needs to be done.”

This will now, however, prove to be difficult as a case was not immediately opened and the men were let off with a warning.

Umhlali SAPS spokesperson Captain Vinny Pillay said: “They were brought into the police station, a warning was issued which they signed for, they were told not to enter the area again and they were let go.

“It is best to immediately open up a case, no matter the severity of the situation. Even if it is a minor case of theft or trespassing.

“This allows us to then detain the suspects, take their fingerprints and confirm whether they are linked to previous cases.”

Chairperson of the Salt Rock Neighbourhood Watch (SRNW) Nathalie Struwe was disappointed by the outcome and urged residents to report any and all cases of crime to their local SAPS.

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“We as a neighbourhood watch always encourage the victim, and plead with them to please open a case,” said Struwe.

“Members of the public are encouraged to not just complete an incident report at the station, as this has no real value in the bigger scheme of things, and is mainly to claim from insurance for stolen items.

“An incident report and a case are two completely different things and the general public are often not aware of this.

“They should insist on opening a case and receiving a case number.”

When a case is opened the mandate is then on the police to act on it.

Long standing SRNW member, Chris Garland, has volunteered to accompany victims of crime to their local SAPS to assist them in opening up a case and to ensure they follow the correct procedures.

Should you wish to contact him, you can call him on 082 887 0427.

In the case of an emergency contact IPSS Electronic Security on 0861-32-4777.

Have you ever had trouble opening a case at Umhlali SAPS or been advised to rather open an incident report? Contact the newsroom at news@northcoastcourier.co.za 

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