VIGILANCE paid off this past week, as although some break-ins were reported, there were numerous other times that intruders and potential burglars were scared off by residents and suspicious activity was reported and quickly attended to by MultiSecurity and the police.
- Kuyasa High School in Nemato was struck by burglars at the weekend. MultiSecurity control room received a call from the caretaker on Sunday morning and sent a response officer. The police were informed and also attended.
The burglar(s) cut the cable for the lights outside the office, then broke the padlock on the security door and used a sharp object to force open the door at the entrance that leads into the staff room. They stole two computer towers and a screen.
- There was a burglary in Van der Riet Street on Saturday. The burglar(s) gained entry by cutting through a security gate at the back of the house and then entering a window. They stole alcohol, two laptops and a Samsung Galaxy phone.
- A home in Hill Street was broken into on Saturday night. The owners admitted the front door was unlocked and they were having a party with loud music on the opposite side of the house at the time. The alarm was not activated at the time.
A Samsung Note and Samsung S4 were taken. MultiSecurity also reported there were footprints inside the house.
- MultiSecurity responded to an alarm at a home in Alfred Road last Wednesday afternoon and found the garage had been broken into.
But the alleged burglar was still at the scene and they caught him hiding in the bushes. He was identified as living in the same street and was handed over to the police.
- Residents on the East Bank got a scare late on Saturday night when they heard what sounded like gunshots.
A resident of William Cock Road reported the noise to MultiSecurity who contacted the police.
Police said the sounds were coming from the direction of Nemato and police had responded but found it was only a vehicle backfiring in Bathurst Street at the Nemato crossing.
- Two fish oil thieves were nabbed by police after hitting a spaza shop in Nemato last Wednesday.
MultiSecurity responded to a panic signal at the shop in Chris Hani Street where they owner told him four men had come into the shop and stolen four bottles of fish oil.
Police also responded and two of the thieves were caught. The owner decided not to press charges.
- Response officers called for backup at midnight on Saturday as they chased intruders in Weald Avenue.
A sharp-eyed resident called the MultiSecurity control room when she spotted the intruders hiding in her yard in Vernon Place. All armed response vehicles were informed via radio and attended the scene. Police also arrived.
Minutes later a guard at Damant Lodge reported to MultiSecurity that the intruders had run towards the river in Becker Street. One was described as wearing a white hoodie with a maroon jacket over it and the other was wearing a navy blue jacket with brown pants. Despite a search, they were not found.
- A Gleneagles Drive resident called MultiSecurity when she saw intruders trying to open a window at her home last Thursday afternoon. They ran off when they saw her.
Response officers checked the premises and patrolled the area but could not find them.
- More intruders were reported at a home in Colgate Road in the early hours of Friday morning.
MultiSecurity responded to an alarm and also received a call from the flat tenant. Response officers and police searched the premises and surrounding areas but could not find the intruders.
- There was an attempted break-in which might have just been malicious damage to property at the Civic Centre early last Thursday morning.
A municipal employee said the cracked window which was reported by response officers the night before seemed like an attempted break-in. She found two stones inside the office where the window was broken.
- A Marlin Road resident reported a suspicious vehicle in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The grey Ford Ranger double cab was stationary in the middle of the road with its headlights on and the hooter blowing continuously.
Response officers arrived and found that the driver was drunk. They escorted him to his brother’s house in Heron Street.
- Another suspicious vehicle was spotted parked in the bushes in West Beach Drive on Saturday afternoon.
A resident called MultiSecurity and the response officer identified the vehicle and contacted the owner, who said he had broken down and would move his car on Monday.
- A man walking around with garden tools after midnight raised the suspicion of MultiSecurity officers on patrol on Friday night.
They spotted the man on the corner of Princess Avenue and Hards Street. Control room informed the police who arrived at the scene and questioned the strange man. He told them his name and said he had been given the tools by a man at the Lounge at the Square.
The police took the suspected tool thief to the Lounge at the Square where another man confirmed he had given the tools to the first man as he was employed by him.