Hatfield City Improvement District (Cid) security officers arrested two men for allegedly stealing a car in Hatfield last Thursday. A security officer spotted the suspects, aged around 20, driving a Toyota Hilux in reverse gear from the Ocean Basket restaurant along Grosvenor Street.
The suspects continued driving in reverse gear, crossing Prospect Street and stopping on South Street near Duncan Street. According to Cid security chief operations officer, Dannie Basson, the security officer patrolling along South Street approached them to find out what the matter was.
“The suspects said they wanted to sell the vehicle,” Basson said. While talking, two men came running towards the car. The car guard and the security guard immediately realised that the vehicle was being stolen.
The suspects jumped out of the car and tried to flee, but security guards who were close by apprehended them a few metres from the bakkie. Car break-in equipment was found in the bakkie. The suspects appeared in the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Monday on a charge of theft of a motor vehicle.
Basson advised motorists who have gear-locks in their vehicles to make use of them to prevent the theft of their vehicles. “Driving in reverse gear is not the best option when trying to run away from a law enforcement agency,” Basson said.
He added that motorists should park their cars in safe areas where there are lights and security guards in uniform.
Most of the cars stolen in the area are Toyota bakkies, both double and single cabs, older models of Toyota Corollas, old Ford Escorts and VW Golf models, among others.
From time to time, remote controls are used to intercept the signal when motorists use their remote locking system to lock their vehicles. It is advisable to double check by hand if the vehicle is properly locked. When there is theft out of a motor vehicle without any physical damage to the vehicle, it is likely that a normal gate remote has been used to intercept the car locking system signal.
