RESIDENTS and business owners in uMhlanga and Durban North have once again been subjected to a series of crimes involving gate-crashing and jamming in recent weeks. 

Recent reports have indicated that criminals have been gate-crashing, cutting electric fences and jamming driveway gates to gain entry into homes and business properties. In the most recent incident, car thieves jammed the electronic gate in the driveway of a business in Kensington Drive on Thursday, 4 September. “A car was stolen from the property after the thieves jammed the gate sensors. Fortunately, the vehicle was later recovered,” said Henk Van Bemmelen, the managing director of Blue Security. 

Authorities also recently responded to a separate housebreaking on Balmoral Drive in Durban North, where the burglars gained entry into the home by removing the roff tiles in the ealy hours of the morning. “In another incident in Holmpark Place this week suspects gained entry by climbing onto the roof and entering the house through an upper level sliding door. A DVD player, cash and jacket were reported stolen,” he said.

Several incidents of attempted housebreakings, where also reported, where the trespassers fled the scene before the reaction officers arrived, as the alarms had been activated.”One of our reaction officers found a bag containing copper pipes that had been abandoned on a property in Northway together with a reflective jacket,” said Van Bemmelen.

He added that armed robbery and gate-crashing was still a problem with the latest incident reported in La Lucia last Friday. “A gang of armed men derailed the driveway gate and held up the domestic workers. They fled with a camera, laptop and a safe,” he said.