Thanks to modern technology, the human race has a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips. While some people may use this knowledge to better themselves, others use it to find easier ways to pursue their lawless behaviour.
One of the latest criminal trends sees thieves targeting specific Volkswagen vehicles, mainly later-model Golfs and Polos, to steal their headlights. More and more security camera footage is surfacing of thieves nonchalantly walking up to these VWs (or parking next to them in a getaway vehicle) and stealing their headlights within a matter of seconds.
Footage of two suspects stealing the headlights of a white Golf that was parked on Devil’s Peak Turn in Bergbron on Saturday, 10 April has been doing the rounds on social media. While everyone in the comment section is notably angry at the audacity of criminals, the most common comments see people expressing their surprise at the sheer speed these crimes are carried out. In less than 20 seconds, the two men parked next to the targeted car, got out, stole the headlights, and fled. To top it all off, this crime was carried out in broad daylight.
Watch here:
The Roodekrans Neighbourhood Watch (RNW), noticing the increase in these crimes sent out a warning to West Rand residents and urged them to be vigilant. The RNW committee stated that they noticed the groups of criminals stealing the headlights seem to be moving from the northern suburbs of Johannesburg to the west. “Please ensure that your cars are parked within your property whenever possible and kept secure,” said the RNW committee.
The Florida Police were contacted for comment regarding the Devil’s Peak Turn incident and their spokesperson, Sergeant Mpho Moré, confirmed that no case had been opened at the Florida Police Station.
The Roodepoort Police spokesperson, Captain Juanita Yorke, provided the following tips to residents driving VWs that may be targeted:
• Be aware of where you park your vehicle and the surrounding areas
• Engrave or mark the headlight on the outside of the headlight casing which is inside the engine compartment (this will help identify any recovered headlights and possibly link suspects to the theft)
• Make sure that the registration number and the Vin number are clearly engraved on the headlight casing
• Make use of Data Dot Technology
