Overport couple recover stolen goods

A YOUNG newly wed couple were shocked to find their stolen items at a nearby Cash Crusaders following a break-in at their Overport home.

On 16 November, Simone and Raveshni Chetty followed their normal Monday routine of leaving their home by 7.45am for work.

When they returned at 6pm and tried to open their remote-controlled garage door, it wouldn’t open. Raveshni thought this was a power failure and when he went to check, he found that the garage door had been forcefully pushed in.

“At that moment we realised that something was wrong,” he said.

“When we went through the door we saw that our microwave was left next to the garage and the second thing we noticed was that our Wendy house was broken open and all our things were scattered on the floor.”

The gate and the front door had also been cut. Feeling apprehensive about the situation, Raveshni alerted the body corporate.

The body corporate reviewed the footage of the break-in and found that the person responsible was the maintenance man who lived at the complex.

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A detective from Umbilo SAPS arrived at the scene and suggested that Raveshni check the nearby Cash Crusaders, the retail franchise that buys second hand goods.

When the detective arrived at Cash Crusaders Overport, he was told that that morning, a man had sold items very similar to the ones the Chettys had reported missing.

The items were seized by the police for investigation and the Chetty’s later recovered them after proving they were the rightful owners.

Simone said they had to produce a receipt for Cash Crusaders to prove the items belonged to them, a burden of proof that was not extended to the thief.

Berea Mail sent questions to Cash Crusaders asking if they had a method or policy of verifying items before purchasing them and they did not reply.

“We are proactively involved in assisting the police to develop laws that govern the second-hand goods industry and protect consumers. Our stores and records are open to full inspection at any time. There is a time lag of seven days before anything we purchase goes on sale,” they said in a statement.  

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