Camera footage traps suspect
A suspect was arrested after allegedly breaking into a property in Rondebosch earlier this week. He was trapped thanks to the security system installed at the house which included a video monitoring system.
“We received an alarm signal from a home in Avenue de Mist just before 4am on Monday (24 April) and dispatched one of our armed response officers to investigate, says Mr Jade Hanning, district manager (Cape Town South) for Fidelity ADT.
When the officer arrived at the house – which was standing empty while renovations were being carried out – the officer noticed that a door at the back of the property was open and the handle broken.
“The officer called for backup. When his colleague arrived, they entered the house and found a suspect pretending to be asleep on a bed with several bags standing next to him which he claimed belonged to him,” says Hanning.
The two officers reported back to their Monitoring Centre, who in turn contacted the client to inform him of what had happened. The client was not staying at the property while it was being renovated; he confirmed that he could see on a video feed connected to his security system that the suspect had entered his property and confirmed that the suspect did not have permission to be there.
“Rondebosch SAPS soon arrived on the scene and took the suspect into custody. I encourage home owners to always make sure their home security systems are regularly tested and armed, so that any possible intruders could be apprehended. The use of CCTV technology is also no longer as prohibitively expensive as it may have been in the past, and it provides valuable material that could be used in the prosecution of any intruders,” says Hanning.