THERE’S no escaping the long arm of the law! Two Metro Police officers proved the point on Wednesday when they determinedly chased down a robber in the CBD.
Constables Manqoba Phewa and Mandla Mthehwa were returning to the Boscombe Joint Operations Centre at around 5pm when they were alerted to the robbery and rushed to the scene. A man, who had been walking in the vicinity of Palmer and Gillespie Streets had been accosted and robbed by three men, one of whom allegedly viciously bit him in the scuffle and left him bleeding.
By the time the two policemen arrived, the robbers had fled. The constables set off in search of the men with a description provided by the victim. As they were working the area they were stopped by a known car guard who had recovered the stolen cellphone and who pointed them in the direction the men had run.
Constable Mthethwa said they spotted the men and he jumped out the van and gave chase on foot while Constable Phewa followed in the van. Determined to make an arrest, Methethwa said he had to run quite fast to keep up with the one suspect. “I was determined he would not get away. If I had stopped we would have lost him as he would have run into a shop and removed his jacking and blended in the crowd.”
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Working with Constable Phewa in the van, Mthethwa managed to gain ground on the suspect after chasing him for about 1km when Constable Phewa pulled up in front of him with the Metro Police van, cutting him off.
“As we were loading the suspect into the van he showed us where he had thrown the wallet in an effort to bribe us, but that didn’t work. We took him to the Point Police Station and were surprised to see his face on the wall as one of their wanted criminals. He had cases against him from 2015 and 2016,” said Constable Mthethwa.
This is not the first long distance chase Constable Mthethwa has done. Two weeks ago he chased another robber on foot for over two kilometres through the Durban Central Business District and successfully caught him after he had stolen a woman’s cellphone. He said they worked successfully with the SAPS to apprehend the suspect.
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He is humble about the accomplishment saying it was part of the job.
“At the end of the day we are working here to protect the public. Robberies are on the increase as people are seen as soft targets. I am committed to fighting this and letting criminals know that we are on duty,” said Constable Mthethwa.
Constable Phewa said he joined the force six years to protect and serve. Captain Isabel Moolman praised the efforts of the two constables and encouraged other Metro Police officers to follow suit and go above and beyond the call of duty.
“They made a good arrest and I am proud of their hard work,” she said.
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