PE man arrested after tip-off

A 33-year-old Port Elizabeth man was arrested after trying to hide when police raided his home during the early hours of Monday morning.

Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said police raided the house in Mahambahlala Street, Kwazakhele, at about 1:45am, after receiving a tip-off that a firearm and suspected stolen items were hidden inside the house.

Beetge said the Motherwell Cluster Operational Command Centre followed up on the information and when they arrived at the house, the man threw a firearm into the garden and ran into the house.

“The suspect was standing outside the house, in his garden, when police arrived at the address. As they arrived at the house, the man saw them and was seen throwing a firearm into the yard before running into the house,” he said.

“Police entered the house and arrested the man before commencing a search of the premises.”

Beetge said suspected stolen jewellery as well as two new cellphones, still inside their packaging, were found on the property.

“There was a broken down car inside the yard. On searching the car, two brand new cellphones were found hidden inside. On searching the house, a moneybox containing jewellery, including three gold watches and rings, was also found. Two [firearm] magazines were also found hidden under his bed.”

Beetge said the estimated value of the cellphones alone was thought to be about R30,000.

“The jewellery price is unknown as detectives are still attempting to locate the owners to link the rings and watches to a crime,” he said.

According to police, the firearm was reported stolen in the Mount Road policing area during a burglary in August 1997.

“The firearm has since been sent to the ballistic unit to establish if it can be linked to any crimes committed over the last 20 years, since it was reported stolen,” Beetge said.

The cellphones were found just a week after a courier vehicle was hijacked in the Walmer Park Shopping Centre car park.

The vehicle was found abandoned in Charlo with several boxes of cellphones - worth about R150 000 – stolen.

Three weeks prior, another courier vehicle carrying cellphones was hijacked in New Brighton.

This came only days after another two trucks were hijacked in the Bay and more than R3.5-million worth of stock stolen.

Asked if the recovered cellphones were possibly stolen in the recent spate of courier truck hi-jacking's, Beetge said that was subject to investigation and would be looked into.

“Detectives  are consolidating the dockets of the recent hijackings in which several cellphones were stolen. After consulting with the companies involved, we will be able to determine if these cellphones were stolen during the hijackings,” he said.

The man is due to appear in the New Brighton Magistrate's Court on Tuesday for illegal possession of a firearm as well as for being in possession of suspected stolen property.

More charges could be added as the probe continues.