A 52 year old Pretoria Moot woman sang the Lyttelton police’s praises after they arrested a man suspected of snatching her handbag on Friday morning.
The woman was attacked on Verwoerd Bridge on her way to the car from the home affairs in Centurion.
She said she and her sister had been standing in the queue since 06:00 but left at 09:00 when it was announced the office systems were offline.
“There is no parking at the office so we had parked at the mall. On our way to the car, the thief took by handbag.”
She said she chased after him as he ran to under the bridge.
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“There’s water and mud everywhere and I fell a couple of times. The mud didn’t seem to slow down the thief. He was gliding over the mud and I lost him.”
She said a vagrant who had witnessed the caboodle, advised her against continuing her pursuit as she would get hurt.
“I listened to the homeless man who was kind enough to walk with me back to my sister.”
She said, back on the bridge, the police and security agencies were there to assist.
“I could only identify the thug from behind as I could not see his face. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans.”
She said she had now learnt not to keep everything in her handbag.
“I have lost everything when my handbag got stolen, but the police and security agencies delivered an outstanding service.”
She said the man ran into the informal settlement under the bridge.
“There’s a whole community living there. I don’t know how the municipality can allow that.”
Police spokesperson Captain Dave Miller said a suspect was arrested and could possibly be linked to other crimes.
Miller said parking was a problem at home affairs and warned visitors and residents to be cautious.
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