HILLCREST resident, Michael Wright, tried to help a young and pitiful schoolgirl two weeks ago, but instead was conned and had his iPad stolen from out of his car.
According to Wright, he saw the girl, who was in her school uniform, sobbing alongside the road at around 5.10pm on Friday, 27 February. She told him a story about how her brother had raped her, and also how she had a baby sister at home and needed money. She begged him to take her to her aunt’s house in Everton Road in Gillitts, and Wright agreed. While on his way there, she began telling him other strange stories about her background and parents, who were apparently bitten by snakes and died.
When Wright asked her for her aunt’s address she couldn’t answer, so he offered to buy her some food or give her some money instead, as he had another appointment to attend. She agreed.
Wright drove to the Oxford Market and asked the girl to wait a few minutes in his vehicle while he quickly went to an ATM to draw cash for her. He said he couldn’t have been longer than 10 minutes, and when he returned to the car he handed her R400 and then dropped her off directly opposite the entrance to Oxford Market.
“I had just driven out of the parking area and onto the main road when I opened the cubby-hole of my car to check if my iPad was there. It wasn’t. That’s when I realised I was conned and that this girl had stolen it. I drove back to the store, but she was long gone,” said Wright.
Wright immediately called his wife, Bronwyn, and told her what had just happened. She decided to post the story on the Upper Highway info page on Facebook. Within 20 minutes someone had put a picture of the girl on the network, which Bronwyn sent to her husband, and he confirmed it was the same girl.
“The information went viral, and at least five other people confirmed that they had been scammed by the same girl,” said Wright.
He then spoke to a friend, Heinrich Swartz, who is a private investigator. He advised him to lay a charge of theft at the police station, which Wright did on Sunday at Hillcrest SAPS.
“The police asked for a description. I gave them a printed copy of the picture from the website, and they immediately recognised her. They said she was arrested last year but was released into her parents’ custody as she was only 16 years old,” said Wright.
Two policeman, Const Lungani Malinga and W/O Raymond Soobramoney of the Hillcrest Task Team, picked her up at her school and recovered the stolen iPad on Thursday, 5 March. She was supposed to have appeared in court the next day, but was once again released into her parents’ custody.
The investigating officer, Det/Const Sindi Mnyandu, escorted the girl to court on Wednesday, 11 March.
“The Hillcrest SAPS was brilliant – they always kept me informed. When you have something as small as an iPad stolen from you, you don’t usually get it back, so I’m really impressed with the detectives’ efficiency in their work,” said Wright.
