The Laudium CBD has become infamous for the thriving criminal activity that continues to take place here, but in a recent incident, a thief got more than he bargained for when he was chased down by community members on Friday, March 2 after trying to get away with his stolen loot.
Speaking to the Laudium Sun, Kevin Perumal, who was in the CBD, running errands that day, said that he saw a fishy character standing around a Nissan 1400 bakkie that was parked near the old post office, and it struck him as suspicious behaviour because the guy kept looking furtively at the goods on the back of the bakkie.
“It all happened so quickly. I had just offloaded my shopping into my boot and I saw this guy lingering around the vehicle, while the driver of the vehicle was not around. The guy looked so suspicious, prompting me to take notice of what he was up to. Suddenly, he grabbed a box from the back of the open bakkie and started to run away. I was shocked because there were other people around who saw what happened, yet did nothing, so I decided to chase after the criminal. Some taxi drivers in the area also saw me running after the thief and they joined in the chase,” the 29-year-old said.
Kevin continued, “The thief ran towards Emerald Street and then back up to Pearl Street and that's where we were able to corner him. Some members of the community also helped us apprehend him and we made him lie on the ground until the police came and took him away. It was so refreshing to see for once that a criminal was actually caught and made to pay for his crimes. He was charged with theft and sent to the Atteridgeville police cells. The driver of the Nissan bakkie was overjoyed that his stock was recovered because he was transporting the goods for someone else and would have had to foot the bill if the goods were stolen. All in all, its one less criminal who hopefully won't take a chance again,” Kevin said.
“While I was glad that some members of the community helped in arresting the thief, I was so disappointed to see that other community members just stood back and watched the criminal run off with the box, despite my pleas for help. What if something like this had to happen to one of them, wouldn't they expect some sort of help from the people nearby? We should work together to at least try to eradicate the criminal element from our society,” Kevin appealed.
Laudium police confirmed that a case of theft had been opened and that the suspect, Miles Kimoja, has appeared at the Atteridgeville Magistrates Court. Bail was subsequently denied as there are apparently other cases pending against him.
Miles Kimoja ran out of luck when he was detained after being charged for stealing.
Ecstatic after helping to catch a thief: Kevin Perumal of Indigo Street, Laudium.