A Grahamstown woman was the victim of petty theft when a thief snatched her hand bag from her car in front of the Grocott's Mail offices in High Street yesterday.
A Grahamstown woman was the victim of petty theft when a thief snatched her hand bag from her car in front of the Grocott's Mail offices in High Street yesterday.
Anna-Marie Nel, a pensioner, had just been to Specsavers to pick up a new pair of glasses when the incident took place. ”When I got to my car I opened the front passenger door and put my bag on the passenger seat, and when I was opening the driver's door a man opened the passenger side and ran away with my bag,” said Nel.
She screamed and called for help. Chukuudi Moses, an informal trader who has a stall on High Street, spotted the fleeing man and chased after him. “When I saw the man grabbing the bag from the car and heard people shouting I ran after him, then he dropped the bag and was [later]caught by another man," explained Moses. “When I gave back the bag to the lady she was so happy that she gave me R100 and another man [who witnessed the incident]offered me another R100."
But Moses declined these offers and opted instead to split the money among the bystanders, some of whom had alerted him of Nel's plight. “I refused to take the money but after the crowd insisted I took the money and gave it to onlookers,” he said.
He also said he helped the lady because he wanted to contribute to fighting crime in Grahamstown, not because he wanted something back. After the man was caught he was handed over to the police who were called to the scene while patrolling High Street.
Nel said she didn't open a case against the man who took her bag. “I didn't open a case because I have got my bag back and that [laying a charge]would not make a difference anyway because they will give bail,” said the visibly shocked woman.
