A man was arrested after allegedly having burgled both Hoërkool Florida and Laerskool Florida, stealing multiple items over the long weekend.
CCTV footage circulated on community WhatsApp groups shows the man entering a classroom at Laerskool Florida shortly before 02:00 on March 22 with a pair of scissors in his mouth.
The man is seen rummaging through a cupboard near the door before making his way to the teacher’s desk at the far side of the classroom, where he takes a laptop and rummages through other items on the desk.
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On his way out of the classroom, the man’s face is caught clearly on the CCTV footage. He briefly rummages through the cupboard again before exiting the classroom.
The same man allegedly targeted Hoërskool Florida in the early hours of March 24.
According to school principal Julius Katzke, the school was advised not to release CCTV footage of the incident.
“The footage was handed over to Florida police.”
Katzke adds that it is suspected that the man gained entry to the school premises by scaling the palisade fence along Havenga Avenue.
“It appears that he managed to steal a laptop as well as some cycling equipment from our mountain biking class,” he says.
According to Help24 Secure operations director Quentin Swart, security officers visited both crime scenes and viewed the video footage of the suspect.
“One of our officers thought he recognised the man, and it was later confirmed to be a positive identification,” he says.
“We received information that the man was living at the men’s shelter in Florida, but before we could act on that, he was spotted on the road.
“A response vehicle was dispatched, and the man was detained until police arrived at the scene and arrested him.”
Swart adds that a search through his belongings at the shelter led to the recovery of some of the stolen items.
He also says the same man is suspected of a burglary at Florida Primary School over the long weekend, but says this is still under police investigation.
