A 32-year-old man was recently arrested by the Primrose police, and charged with arson.
Officers were able to trace the accused using his cellphone, which he dropped as he made his escape.
The cellphone was handed over to police by the store owner, who opened a case against the accused.
“The store’s owner claims he was at his store at around 9pm, when the man appeared at the entrance in dark clothes,” explained the communications officer for the Primrose police, Sgt Styles Maome .
“The man ordered him to open the store and threatened him with a knife and petrol, with which he would set him alight.”.
After the shop owner refused his demands, the accused poured petrol inside the shop and set it alight with a match.
“The man then ran away and the shop owner chased after him.
“It was during the chase that the accused’s cellphone fell out of his pocket,” Maome said.
After his arrest the man was taken to the Primrose Police Station, pending his appearance in the Germiston Magistrates Court.
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