Teamwork leads to swift recovery of stolen bakkie

Collaboration between two Ndlambe security companies, the community and the police, together with the effective use of social media, saw a bakkie recovered and a suspected thief arrested, just hours after it was stolen from a home near Cannon Rocks yesterday.

SWIFT RESPONSE: Chris Barnard from Hi-Tec in Kenton-On-Sea who led the tracking of a stolen vehicle from Cannon Rocks yesterday. Picture: SUPPLIED

Hi-Tec Kenton’s Chris Barnard said he received a call from the Cannon Rocks and Boknes community crime watch group early on Wednesday January 4 reporting that a bakkie had been stolen near Cannon Rocks.

At the Hi-Tec office, he immediately checked the License Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras and used the Navic vehicle tracking system to pinpoint where the vehicle was and in which direction it was heading. He posted the information on various security groups on WhatsApp. 

“These security groups where the police are on [also include] fire departments, people who respond to accidents in the Sarah Baartman area, K9 units and emergency groups in the Eastern Cape and surrounds,” Barnard said. “So I [shared] the message on all of the groups and from those groups, they relayed it into other groups. So within a few minutes, everybody was notified in all different areas where the vehicle might be heading. They went through Butterworth and that’s where the Butterworth SAPS stopped [the bakkie] and arrested the suspects,” he said. 

Barnard thanked Fred Cannon from Multi Security for assisting by checking on their cameras, too, to see where the vehicle was last picked up. He was tracking it simultaneously on Hitec’s Navic system. 

The owners of the recovered vehicle, who did not want to be named, expressed their gratitude for the swift response. They were thrilled that their bakkie had been recovered. 

Spokesperson for the South African Police Service in the Eastern Cape Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli said Butterworth police had arrested a 45-year-old man on Wednesday morning for being in possession of suspected stolen property. “Police can confirm that on Wednesday, 4 January 2023, Flying Squad and K9 members responded to information about a stolen vehicle, white Isuzu KB bakkie that was said to be traveling towards Kei Bridge. It is believed that a vehicle was stolen near Alexandria [the previous] night, Tuesday 03 January 2023,” he said.

“Moments later, a vehicle fitting the same description was spotted on the N2 near Kei Bridge. Police managed to stop the vehicle in Butterworth, and a 45-year-old driver was arrested on charges relating to possession of stolen property,” said Warrant Officer Nkohli.

The suspect was due to appear in the Butterworth Magistrate’s Court today, Thursday, January 5.