New Germany suspect nabbed
A suspect is in police custody, thanks to a caring New Germany resident who answered a call from a neighbour.
Fidelity ADT’s monitoring centre received a call from a client on Ridge Road (on Tuesday 4 July 2017) to report that a neighbour walking along the road had just been mugged.
“The caller informed our monitoring centre that the neighbour’s handbag, cash and other personal belongings had been stolen, and asked that we deploy an armed response officer to assist,” says Ivan Govender, Fidelity ADT’s district manager for KwaZulu-Natal.
When armed response officer Lungisani Hagile arrived in Ridge Road, he interviewed both the caller and the victim to get a better picture of what had happened. They were able to provide him with an accurate description of the suspect.
“Officer Hagile proceeded to patrol the streets of New Germany, and very soon located an individual that matched the description he was given earlier. On questioning and searching the suspect, the allegedly stolen items were discovered in his possession and he was handed over into the custody of Pinetown SAPS,” says Govender.
“We commend Officer Hagile for the good work as it is always encouraging to see another criminal behind bars. The incident also shows the importance of being able to provide authorities with a detailed description of suspects involved in these crimes. It makes it far easier to track them down and truly helps our officers to know what to look out for when patrolling an area.”
Govender also paid tribute to the resident who first raised the alarm, and says it is heart-warming to see residents who come to each other’s aid in time of need. He cautioned residents to never engage criminals or suspects themselves, but to always make contact with security companies or the police as they are trained to respond to potentially dangerous situations.