Suspected car jammers nabbed on Broadway
Suspected car jammers found with a number of cell phones,sim cards, bank cards and toy gun.
THREE men believed to be staking out vehicles and ATMs on Broadway (Swapo) Road were arrested last Thursday at about 12.30pm. Police also found a bundle of bank cards, an envelope containing 20 sim cards and a toy handgun in the suspect’s car. One of the men had taken uMhlanga resident, Jason de Gouveia’s phone from an ATM stall just minutes before police swooped on the trio.
“I was drawing money and I left my phone on top of my wallet on the shelf lip at the ATM. I heard a loud bang behind me. As I turned around to see what the noise was, I felt a slight bump to my left hand side. Luckily I felt it because I turned back to the screen, I realised my phone has been stolen. I noticed the man behind me leaving the stall and I ran after the guy to confront him and managed to trip him.
“That’s when the police showed up. I’m not sure how they managed to get my phone into the getaway vehicle but I was seething that these scumbags had stolen my phone. I’m glad they were caught and the police did a fantastic job. I just couldn’t believe how much they found in the car,” he said.
The suspects were spotted by the Field Unit of the Durban North SAPS, who were travelling in an unmarked vehicle. According to Lt Raymond Deokaran, the officers pulled up behind the suspects’ car and boxed them in.
“The officers had spotted the suspicious vehicle cruising along Broadway and decided to pull it over. While the car was being searched, the resident, who had parked further up, came to our offices saying his phone had been stolen. The officers then found the resident’s phone as well as six other phones, all of which are suspected to have been stolen,” he said.
“We also found a bundle of bank cards, an envelope containing 20 sim cards and a toy handgun. We are trying to link the suspects to other robbery cases, and at this stage it is unclear whether the men involved are behind a number of card swapping cases at ATMs in the Durban North and uMhlanga area,” he said.
The vehicle used in the robbery belonged to one of the suspects. The trio were charged with theft.
