Two alleged diesel thieves caught in act
Two suspects were arrested for trying steal diesel.
With the help and cooperation between the police and a local community policing forum (CPF) an attempted robbery of a peculiar nature resulted in the arrest of two suspects.
Two men were arrested on Sunday afternoon on a small holding in Haakdoornboom while planning to steal diesel.
According to the Pretoria North sector 3 chairman, Duan Engelbrecht, the two men broke into the owner’s storage facility and attempted to steal diesel and hardware equipment. Engelbrecht said men had twelve 25 liter containers with them in which they planned to store the the stolen diesel.
Engelbrecht said an employer saw the suspicious men enter the storage room and immediately phone the SAPD and the Pretoria North sector 3 CPF.
He said that when the authorities arrived on the scene the two men tried to hide underneath a sail, but when they were approached, the culprits tried to flee. The police caught of them but the other one got away. “A search was initiated and the second suspect was caught and arrested through the help of our neighbouring CPF 4,” said Engelbrecht.
Engelbrecht said this case was once again a good example of how the police and the community worked together to fight crime. “This is a wonderful example of how the community can take hands with us and help curb crime.”
He added that the real hero was the employee who reported the incident. Engelbrecht also encouraged residents to be alert at all times.
The men are also being investigated for stealing more than 500 liters of diesel from trucks on the same smallholding.
