Criminals start new trend with hired cars

A JOINT effort by Blue Security and SAPS yesterday resulted in the discovery of a car that was allegedly involved in a robbery in Umbilo recently.

Blue Security community and media liaison officer Andreas Mathios said the vehicle, a white Toyota Etios, had been detected as a wanted vehicle on Blue Security’s Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera network in the Umhlanga area at around 1.45pm.

“We contacted the police who confirmed that the vehicle was wanted in connection with a robbery in Umbilo. Our officers then followed the vehicle along Forest Drive all the way to the La Lucia Mall, where it pulled into the parking lot. Durban North SAPS attended the scene and the driver was approached for questioning,” Mathios said.

Mathios said the driver advised the police that he had rented the vehicle and did not have any information regarding the alleged incident.

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“The driver was asked to accompany the police to the police station to complete paperwork regarding the vehicle,” he said.

Mathios said a trend had emerged where criminals were hiring vehicles that they would then use to commit crimes.

“We urge car rental firms to be vigilant when hiring out vehicles and to explore ways to minimise the availability of vehicles to criminal elements,” he said.

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