Police know about smash-and-grabbers but do nothing

Are police willing to fight smash-and-grabbers or is it a crime they actually have given up fighting? These are the questions from Caroline Mphatsoe, who recently became a victim of a smash and grab incident on the 14th Avenue off-ramp in Weltevreden Park. “It was at about 5.50pm and the incident occurred right under the first bridge after turning right from N1 South,” explained Mphatsoe.

She said the perpetrators sit at the top of the hill/bridge and wait for the traffic light to turn red and that is when they come down running and pretend to be beggars. “It’s a big group of people, I think there were about 13 of them.” She explained that the alleged criminals are very strategic in their operation. “They don’t go to the first car at the traffic light, they come to those in the middle because they know there is no chance of driving off because there is no space for you to move.”

She said she had a cushion covered in a cherry case that she had left on the passenger seat and believes the perpetrator mistook it for a laptop.

“After realising that it was light and soft he immediately left it and went away.” While driving off from the traumatic incident, Mphatsoe said she had a sense of relief when she saw police at the next traffic light, just a few metres from where the incident occurred. But she was left crushed after speaking to those police officers. “I told them what had just happened to me and they were not moved at all by what I said to them.”

She said the police seemed to have known the exact modus operandi of those perpetrators. “They told me that they knew about those guys. They even said they know that they park their vehicles somewhere in a business park/shopping centre close to the off-ramp.” With the negative response she received from the police, Mphatsoe said she didn’t see the point of going to open a case at the police station. “The police already know about these people, what difference would it have made if I had opened a case? It’s like this is one crime that they want us to live with,” highlighted Mphatsoe.

Florida Police are still to comment on their lack of action on the incident.