Thieves ransack Pretoria crime investigator’s home
The staff of Mike Bolhuis were interrogated after the break-in and were cleared of any involvement.
A group of unknown men entered Bolhuis’ premises and house in the early hours of Wednesday, on 30 October, and fled with various office equipment. Image: Supplied
Serious violent and economic crimes investigator Mike Bolhuis said all his staff members had been questioned and cleared following a break-in at his home in Kameeldrift, north of Pretoria last week.
“You feel violated. Everyone around us in the area has been targeted several times. We were the only ones not yet targeted,” Bolhuis told Pretoria North Rekord.
A group of unknown men entered Bolhuis’ premises and house in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and fled with various office equipment including computer screens, laptops, work cellphones, hard drives and memory sticks.
Bolhuis said his staff were interrogated and investigated and found not to be linked to the break-in.
The necessary security measures have also been taken and a wall repaired.
Bolhuis said the nature reserve in the area was also targeted last week, following the break-in at his premises, and Leeufontein Primary School has not been spared.
The intruders gained access to Bolhuis’ highly secure property by breaking open a brick wall underneath the palisade fencing.
Bolhuis said the suspects had leopard-crawled to dodge the various security beams on his property.
“They used a crowbar to gain access to my office, which they ransacked.”
Bolhuis has reason to believe the perpetrators had been watching them.
“They knew we went to bed early. They also had knowledge of the beam and how to work around it.”
The burglars also broke into Bolhuis’ main house and went into the home office as well as the children’s rooms.
“They moved very quickly and carefully.”
Bolhuis’ team left no stone unturned after the incident, and found an iPhone and a keyboard in the veld near Bolhuis’ house.
Other items stolen during the incident include Bolhuis’ daughter’s camera and lenses, jewellery, handbags and her school bag with all her projects inside.
Bolhuis said she was devastated but they managed to download most of her projects from the Cloud.
“The penny has dropped and I have learned my lesson,” Bolhuis said.
He said they had noticed footsteps around the property, but did not think they were being watched.
Bolhuis and his team have joined hands with local authorities to investigate the crime in the area and to bring suspects to book.
He and his team met up with detectives from the Kameeldrift police station to exchange notes about the crime in the area and the possibility of centralising the investigation.
Police are yet to comment.
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