Seven housebreakers arrested over past three days

Blue Security armed response officers have cornered and arrested seven housebreakers in Morningside, Umbilo and Westriding since Saturday.
Mathios said armed response officers arrested two of the alleged housebreakers in Morningside on Saturday and a further five suspects today. “In the early hours of the morning just after 1am our officer responded to the scene of a housebreaking where he noticed a suspect fleeing the premises. He immediately called for backup, and the officer responding to his call for help, spotted the suspect standing on the roof of a block of flats behind the property. He ordered the suspect to get off the roof and placed him under arrest,” he said.
Mathios said the suspect had allegedly smashed the windows of three vehicles that were parked on the premises and removed two batteries which were recovered lying in the property. The suspect was handed over to the Berea SAPS at the scene.

“Our armed response officer spotted three suspects who were fleeing a business premises in Morningside and managed to arrest one of them in McKenzie Road. He was handed over to the Berea SAPS at the scene,” Mathios said. “Upon inspection of the property it was found that the suspects had forced open a window and burglar bar and they had also managed to force open a door to gain entry. The suspects had ransacked the premises and fled with cash, a microwave and a computer monitor,” he said.
A further five suspects were arrested today (Monday) in Umbilo and Westriding. “A vigilant armed response officer arrested a wanted suspect whose description had been circulated on a community crime group in Westriding, when he spotted him walking along a railway line,” he said. “The officer recovered a Weber braai, a screwdriver, pliers and a jersey which the suspect had in his possession. He was handed over to the police.”
Mathios said an officer responded to a house alarm in Umbilo where he caught a suspect red handed and still on the property with the resident’s clothing in his possession. The incident occurred at around 12.16pm. “At least two suspects climbed over the fence and broke into a cottage on the premises through a toilet window. The suspects removed copper pipes from the property, which a second suspect had managed to get away with,” he said.
In a second arrest in Umbilo at around noon, a street guard pressed his panic button, when he spotted a suspect stealing chairs from a vehicle parked in the road. “The car had been left unlocked and the suspect opened the door and stole two plastic chairs. Our officer arrested him when he spotted him running down Bartle Road. He was handed over to the Umbilo SAPS,” he said.
In the latest incident at 12.45pm an armed response officer who was patrolling in Morningside spotted two suspects fleeing a property where they had just managed to open an unlocked garage. “When the suspects saw our officer driving nearby they turned and fled the premises but he managed to arrest both of them. He handed both suspects over to the Berea SAPS,” Mathios said.