The police in Ekurhuleni rescued and then arrested a man who was attacked by community members after he allegedly broke into a house.
MEMBERS of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) acted just in time to rescue a 32-year-old man while he was under attack from community members who accused him of housebreaking in the Putfontein area.
A spokesperson for the EMPD, Lieutenant-Colonel Kelebogile Thepa, said the 32-year-old man, who was under attack from community members, confessed that he was indeed a thief.
“On Friday, April 5, 2024, at 3pm, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department’s (EMPD) Bronberg precinct officers rescued a 32-year-old African male, a suspect for housebreaking, from angry community members in the Putfontein area,” said Thepa.
“The EMPD officers, responded to a complaint addressed by a concerned member of the public about an alleged suspect who broke into a house on Geldenhuys Road but was caught by the residents of the community.”
Thepa said the 32-year-old man was found in possession of stolen household property.
“Upon arrival, officers found the suspect with the suspected stolen goods and a complainant, who was on the scene, confirmed that she was the house owner and that the recovered items belonged to her,” said Thepa.
“Upon questioning the alleged suspect, he admitted to the offence and stated that he was told there was money at the said address by an unknown person. The suspect was immediately placed under arrest and handcuffed, while he was marched to Putfontein police station and lawfully detained.”
Following the rescue of the 32-year-old, the EMPD has once again appealed to community members to refrain from taking the law into their own hands, but to instead call the police to crime incidents.
In January, it was reported that an unidentified man, believed to be in his 40s, was brutally murdered by community members in a Limpopo village for allegedly stealing a plasma television set.
At the time, Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said the incident happened in Makurung village, under the Lebowakgomo policing precinct, in the early hours of the morning – at around 3am.
