In two separate incidents on 21 January, two men from Little Falls and Strubens Valley fell victim to car jamming.
Car jamming involves blocking a vehicle’s remote to reverse the locking action. It is only successful if the ‘jammers’ are close to the target and press their remote at the same time as their victim presses theirs.
“It was just before 5pm and I rushed to the shops to buy a few things our guests needed for dinner,” said Hennie Schreuder of Little Falls, who went to do his shopping at Cascades Shopping Centre. Schreuder clearly remembers locking his car and then walking into Checkers. “Literally within two minutes after walking into the shop they had stolen everything that was in my car.” He said he was alerted by a fellow shopper who ran into the shop, screaming that thieves were stealing from his car. “The man asked if I was the owner and told me that they were robbing it.” Schreuder suspects they also wanted to steal his car but were disturbed by the man who saw them. He immediately rushed outside and when he arrived at his car the alleged perpetrators drove off in a red car. “What made me even angrier was that when I got to my car, a car guard was standing right behind it, not two or three cars away from it,” Schreuder said. The guard alleges he saw nothing.
Between 4pm and 4:30pm that same day, Allister Bell also fell victim to car jamming at the Strubens Valley Shopping Centre. His laptop was stolen from the boot of his supposedly locked car. His wife, Hazel, said Allister went into a shop to play the lotto. “The jammers literally did their job within 10 seconds,” she added. She is baffled as to how the jammers knew her husband had his laptop in the car and where to locate it. According to her, the jammers opened the back door and accessed the boot through the backseat. Bell does not recall seeing any guards in his car’s vicinity upon returning to his car. However, when he returned to the centre – after realising his laptop was missing – they were present. “These guards could be involved in this whole thing,” claimed Hazel.
The matter was reported to Honeydew police.
Spokesperson for Honeydew police Warrant Officer Karen Jacobs confirmed there has been an increase in thefts out of motor vehicles, particularly at shopping centres.
She added that residents should always double check and insure their vehicles are indeed locked before moving away from them.
