June, 2008
A Cape Town Tracker Recovery crew member today (June 3, 2008) arrested three men and shut down a suspected chop-shop after a routine search of a crime hot-spot in Nyanga, just outside Cape Town.
The incident occurred as the Tracker employee randomly and proactively patrolled an area on foot and discovered three men acting suspiciously and who appeared to be stripping a vehicle in an informal garage.
“Our crew member managed to perform a ‘citizen’s arrest’ and immediately called for police back-up. The Maitland SAPS Dog Unit arrived on the scene minutes later and found a second and third vehicle on the premises,” says Tracker’s Communications Manager, Gareth Crocker.
Two of the vehicles, an Isuzu Bakkie and a Toyota Venture, had been reported stolen over the past few days in Stellenbosch and Lansdowne respectively, while the third vehicle, a Nissan bakkie, had its engine numbers tampered with. Several car parts, including doors, windows and engines, were also found on the scene.
Over the past few years, Tracker has, together with the SAPS, recovered more than 38 000 stolen and hijacked vehicles, including some 1400 vehicles that have not been fitted with Trackers. The company has also helped shut down over 300 chop shops and crime syndicates with almost 7300 total arrests.
“Often when we recover a client’s vehicle, we will find other stolen or hijacked vehicles on the scene which are not fitted with Trackers. It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to contact the owner of one of these vehicles, particularly if that person does not have insurance cover, and give them the good news that their vehicle has been found,” explains Crocker.
Experienced specialists
“Our Tracker recovery crews are
all highly experienced specialists, many with several
years of experience working for top law enforcement
units and are often able to put their expertise
to good use outside of our core business of vehicle
tracking. Our crew members have assisted with numerous
arrests for a wide range of crimes over the years
from house breakings and general robberies to rapes
and smash and grabs.”
Some years ago, a band of criminals were arrested after an alert Tracker Recovery crew member noticed that the registration plate on the back of the vehicle driving in front of him was spattered with insect remains, suggesting that it may have been removed from the front of another vehicle. After calling for police back-up, the vehicle was pulled over and its occupants were found to be wanted for a string of crimes.
“As a tracking company, we would be well
within our rights to only dispatch our recovery
crew vehicles and aircraft once a customer has reported
his or her vehicle stolen or hijacked, but we feel
we can offer a far greater service to the country
by putting our expert teams and infrastructure to
work even when not recovering customer’s vehicles.
There is no doubt that our routine patrols are contributing
in the nation’s ongoing fight against crime,”
says Crocker.
For more information, please contact Gareth Crocker,
Communications Manager for Tracker on gcrocker@tracker.co.za,
(011) 380 0300 or 082 78 78 757.