A robber is behind bars after fast-acting and ‘fast-running’ cops nabbed him on the banks of the Klip River a week before Christmas.
On December 18, a man was on his way to buy items at a spaza shop in Steadville when he was accosted by two robbers armed with knives and bricks.
The men assaulted him and robbed him of his cell-phone and sandals. The two suspects fled the scene once they had stolen the man’s possessions.
The case docket was received by detectives and when Constable MR Lamula from the Ladysmith Detective Service Centre read the statement, he recognised the description of one of the suspects. Const Lamula knew exactly who he was looking for and where to find him.
Early the next morning (December 19), Const Lamula went out to Steadville with two colleagues, Const SA Mbatha and Const BM Mazibuko.
When the 24-year-old suspect saw the police vehicle approaching, he knew his number was up and made a run for it, straight towards the banks of the Klip River. Const Lamula wasted no time in speeding after him. Although the suspect was fast and agile, little did he realise that Const Lamula is a keen athlete and considered one of the fastest police officers at the station.
With the athletic policeman hot on his heels, the suspect was soon in handcuffs.
The second suspect is still being sought.
After the arrest, police found that the same suspect was allegedly involved in the theft of a motor vehicle on December 18 in Jabavu, Steadville. A neighbour had asked him to wash the vehicle, but instead he stole it. The vehicle was later found abandoned after he had crashed it into a light pole.
The suspect appeared in the Ladysmith Magistrate’s Court on December 19 on charges of robbery and motor vehicle theft.
