It was a busy weekend for an alert police dog and his handler from the K9 unit, who recovered a stolen car and property worth R1 450 during one weekend shift.
It was a busy weekend for an alert police dog and his handler from the K9 unit, who recovered a stolen car and property worth R1 450 during one weekend shift.
Police said dog handler, Constable Devron Hoffman was on patrol in Albany Road with his dog Jack around 2pm on Friday afternoon when Hoffman stopped and questioned a man carrying a 24-litre container.
The man said he'd got the container from his employer, but as Hoffman got out of his vehicle, the man dropped the container and fled. Jack wasted no time in apprehending the man, whom a search determined was also in possession of a TomTom navigator, wallet, an ipod charger, car radio remote, police said.
The total value of the property was R1 450. The police charged the 33-year-old man with possession of suspected stolen property and he was due to appear in court earlier this week.
Jack and Hoffman continued their good work into the early hours of Saturday, coming to the aid of a man whose car had just been stolen. Around 3am on Saturday, the pair were still on patrol, when they were stopped by a member of the community in Tantyi who reported that his vehicle had just been stolen, police said.
The team set out to search for the white Toyota Corolla, with the man following closely in a borrowed car. Hoffman spotted the vehicle in a street in Joza location, with the suspected thief still inside.
When he saw the police, he got out and started to flee. Jack sprang into action and apprehended the 25-year-old man, who faces a charge of theft of motor vehicle. He is due to appear in the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court soon.
These were two of the team's three successes in less than a month. On 16 September the team tackled and arrested a suspect at game reserve near Grahamstown and recovered a vehicle that had been stolen in Port Elizabeth. Jack is just short of two years old and his handler Hoffman has had four years'experience. The pair completed their training together in May this year.
