The Grahamstown SAPS Task Team has had a string of successes in the past week, capturing men linked to the theft of laptops and other electronic equipment.
The task team, under the command of Inspector Lawrence van Ross, arrested five suspects involved in separate incidents of housebreaking and theft. The task team is renowned for making large drug, dagga and stolen goods busts.
The Grahamstown SAPS Task Team has had a string of successes in the past week, capturing men linked to the theft of laptops and other electronic equipment.
The task team, under the command of Inspector Lawrence van Ross, arrested five suspects involved in separate incidents of housebreaking and theft. The task team is renowned for making large drug, dagga and stolen goods busts.
Van Ross and his team were working in the Scotts Farm area last week when they noticed two men who were in possession of what appeared to have been stolen property, said police spokesperson Inspector Milanda Coetzer.
“In the first instance, after investigation, they recovered a Sansui DVD player and arrested a 27-year-old man, detained and charged him for possession of stolen property,” said Coetzer.
The man was expected to appeared in court last week. In a second bust, the team found two men in possession of an Apple laptop, a charger and a digital camera which, after investigation, were traced back to a house the suspects broke into in Coles Lane. Coetzer said that another laptop as well as more electronic equipment was recovered at the scene of the crime.
“The two men, aged 21, were both detained and are due to appear in court later,” she said.
In a separate incident, the police thanked members of the community who helped in tracing and recovering a laptop which had been stolen from a vehicle in Queen Street on Tuesday morning. The residents also assisted police in arresting the suspect.
Inspector Coetzer said, “A local man who works at the Grahamstown Foundation was very fortunate when he was assisted in this regard by people who saw the breakin. Two men aged 21 and 22 were arrested and detained and went to court this week.”
In another instance a laptop was stolen from a vehicle in I Street in Joza. It has not been recovered. The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon when the window of a Toyota Tazz was smashed and the laptop stolen.
As a result of this scourge of thefts, the SAPS have issued safety tips for laptop owners. These include registering a laptop with a service provider and keeping the serial number and battery pack safe.
“Print a clear photo of the laptop and its serial number and keep it in a safe place,” Coetzer advises.
The police also recommend that laptop owners not leave their computers lying near unsafe places such as windows.
