Fleet-footed police officer apprehends alleged car thief

Determined to catch her suspect, the Mount Road police station’s Constable Nonkwazimlo Ndum-Ndum refused to give up on a foot chase through Korsten on Friday until she had successfully apprehended him.

Police spokesperson Capt Sandra Janse Van Rensburg said that Mount Road police had attended to a report about a suspected stolen vehicle in William Street, Cotswold, at about 4.30am. 

A security guard told them that three men had recently driven out of the parking area of a residential complex in a red VW Golf.

The owner was approached by the security guard and he confirmed his vehicle had been stolen.

“While interviewing the complainant, they received information that the vehicle had been spotted in Korsten,” Janse van Rensburg said. 

“The members patrolled the area and soon spotted  three men pushing a red vehicle.

Two suspects, on seeing the police, split up and ran in different  directions, while the third jumped into the driver’s side, managed to get the vehicle started and sped off, Van Rensburg said. 

A high-speed chase ensued, with police firing warning shots for the driver to stop.

The driver stopped the car in Cottrell Street and attempted to flee further on foot.

“Ndum-Ndum immediately jumped out of the [police] vehicle and pursued the suspect, successfully apprehending the  28-year-old male.

“Detectives are probing whether the suspect could be linked to other vehicle-related cases.”

Janse van Rensburg said the man had been detained on a charge of theft of a motor vehicle and would appear in the magistrate's court in Gqeberha on Monday.

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