An alert resident foiled a remote jammer’s plans at Seadoone Mall on Monday evening, 7 December.
Jacques Kruger was waiting in his vehicle at Winklespruit Spar at about 4.30pm when he saw a woman arrive. After she went into the shops, he saw a man climb into her car and return to his own. “I went and knocked on his window,” said Jacques. “I asked him what he was doing in that woman’s car. He said he knew her and he was just fetching his bank card, which he showed me.”
The man drove off in a green Corsa bakkie. Feeling something wasn’t right, he told the woman what happened when she returned and asked whether she knew the man, which she didn’t. His suspicion now aroused, he and his girlfriend went to Seadoone Mall, where he spotted the same bakkie.
“I got my girlfriend to walk past it. It was empty, but she saw three cellphones on the passenger seat, so I phoned the CCPO for help,” said Jacques.
“We received a call from a member of the public who was observing a man he suspected of vehicle remote jamming,” said Community Crime Prevention Organisation (CCPO) operations manager, Leon Joone.
“He had followed the jammer from a shopping centre in Warner Beach to Seadoone Mall. I dispatched supervisor, Michael Mkhize to the scene.”
The CCPO vehicle parked at a garage across the road, while Jacques waited for an opportunity to jam the bakkie in. He observed the man climb into a Ford Ranger and when he drove off, the CCPO chased him, with Jacques in tow.
“Just before the Galleria off-ramp, the CCPO pulled him off and approached his bakkie with their guns drawn,” said Jacques. “Before they could pull him out the vehicle, however, he sped off. I went chasing after him while the CCPO officers ran back to their vehicle.”
At the Isipingo off-ramp, the bakkie spun off in the wet and crashed into the robots.
“The man ran off. I chased him, along with the Umlazi dog unit which had responded, but he escaped,” said Jacques. A bag containing cellphones, a wallet and credit cards was found in his vehicle, which was later identified as stolen, as well as beach bags.
“If anyone has had anything taken out of their vehicles, such as cellphones or wallets, either at Spar Winklespruit or Checkers Seadoone, contact Toti SAPS.
We want the public to be aware and report any suspicious behaviour they witness,” said Leon.
Motorists are urged to double-checked their doors are locked when they stop in parking lots.
