POLICE are reeling them in like shad during a shad run, but housebreakers still seem to be running riot in the Umdoni area at the moment.
In what seems to be a ‘post Christmas shopping spree’, scores of homes have been burgled, especially in Scottburgh. Police and security companies are being run off their feet and rarely come back empty handed. But they seem to be outnumbered.
The first case that came to our attention was of a burglary in Williamson Street on January 4.
Everyone actually thought this was just illegal business as usual. However, since then things have simply spiraled out of control.
Countless stories of attempted break-ins and actual burglaries have been circulated on social media, but police fear that many incidents aren’t being reported. This information is vital to the police as they need to know where to dispatch their limited resources.
Currently, we have information on nine cases in the past week. One person phoned the Mail to report that he was aware of six burglaries in Williamson Street alone.
On Monday morning, the Umzinto K9 Unit was patrolling in the Williamson Street vicinity when they spotted a culprit fleeing from a property.
A police dog tackled and “made the arrest”. It is not yet known if he was operating alone; however, he was later linked to the burglary and the stolen property was returned.
There were also attempted break-ins and two burglaries in Barbara Avenue. Galway Street has also been badly hit over the past 11 days.
Fortunately, residents are becoming more alert and on Monday morning would-be intruders were spotted in Lindsay Drive trying to gain access to a property. A brave resident managed to chase them off. Afterwards it was discovered that they had already hit a home in Barbara Avenue.
That same evening, four new house-breaking cases were reported, one in the Freeland Park area, two in Scottburgh and one in Scottburgh South.
Meanwhile, security companies in the area are doubling their efforts and work hand-in-hand with the SAPS.
New security companies have also extended their services to the Umdoni area.
If you have any information which could assist the Scottburgh SAPS contact them at 039-9781900 or Scottburgh Cluster Detective Task Team at 039-9789917/18 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111.
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