A DEDICATED armed response officer who stopped to assist a traumatised student, who had just been mugged in Umbilo, went on to pursue and arrest her alleged assailant.
The suspect was one of three arrested at the weekend, including an ATM scammer who was nabbed after allegedly robbing a bank customer.
Blue Security’s Andreas Mathios said the woman flagged down the officer who was patrolling the area in Rick Turner Road at around 5pm on Friday.
“The extremely traumatised student told the officer that she had just been robbed of her cellphone. A suspect had accosted her and threatened to stab her while she was walking along the road. She told our officer that she had handed over her cellphone and that the suspect then fled the scene. The officer patrolled the area in search of the suspect and managed to track him down in Bartle Road,” he said.
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Mathios said the officer apprehended the suspect who was found to be in possession of the alleged stolen cellphone and handed him over to a member of the Umbilo SAPS at the scene. The student was taken to the police station to open a case.
A response officer arrested a second suspect on the corner of Rick Turner and Umbilo Road on Saturday at around 3.40am. “The suspect was arrested for alleged cable theft. He was handed over to the Umbilo SAPS at scene,” Mathios said.
Mathios added that swift teamwork by a security guard, a response officer and the police led to the rest of an ATM scammer who had allegedly robbed a bank customer in Berea on Sunday morning. The incident occurred at around 11.20am.
“The officer responded to the scene of the robbery after a security guard intervened in an incident where an alleged ATM scammer had robbed a bank customer of his bank card while pretending to assist him at the ATM,” Mathios said.
Mathios said the officer handed the suspect, who was in possession of the customer’s bank card, over to the Umbilo SAPS.
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