THE community of Glenmore Crescent in Durban North has hailed 75-year-old John Bedford a hero after he thwarted the efforts of a brass metal thief on Wednesday last week.
“A domestic worker alerted John to a man walking down the road and removing the numbers from the property walls. He then grabbed his baseball bat and confronted the man,” said Brian Hoogewerf, a former CPF chairman and head of road security.
Bedford told the Northglen News that he was fed up with crime and couldn’t allow the suspect to get away with even a ‘seemingly victimless crime’.
“When I confronted him, he dropped the bag and still tried to make up some ridiculous story, but I wouldn’t hear any of it. He tried to approach me, but I motioned to the bat and he then fled,” he said.
Bedford seized the bag of stolen brass numbers and urged anyone who has had their house numbers stolen to collect them from him.
According to Hoogwerf, the incident with the metal thief was an isolated incident, however vagrants have also stripped a recently-burned down house of all its copper piping.
A number of residents have resorted to using plastic numbers or have opted to simply paint their house numbers onto their walls after the incident.
