MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Fifteen minutes was all it took for Mossel Bay Police officers to trace and arrest a man who had allegedly stolen a cellphone from a woman on Santos Beach on Saturday, 23 November.
It was about 07:30 on Saturday morning when sergeants Pieter Coetzer and Ricardo Gelderbloem received a complaint from a woman, Mabatho Mothabeng, at Santos Beach, that her cellphone, car keys and towel had been stolen.
Mothabeng said she had placed her belongings on a bench while at the beach and that her iPhone, towel, car keys and an energy drink were stolen while her back was turned.
She said she walked around the area for a while, asking people if they had seen anyone with these items, but without success. She then came across a man who offered to take her to Mossel Bay Police Station so she could lay a complaint.
After arriving at the station and telling an officer what had happened, the policeman pulled out his phone in an effort to start tracing hers.
It was sergeants Coetzer and Gelderbloem who continued tracing Mothabeng's phone, eventually finding it, allegedly in the possession of a 59-year-old man in Matfield Street.
"They found my phone, car keys and my towel. They even recovered my energy drink," said Mothabeng. "It was so quick; it all happened in about 15 minutes. They were very helpful and supportive and used their own data to trace my phone. I am very grateful to the officers who helped me," she said.
The man, Mervin Raaths, appeared in the Mossel Bay Magistrate's Court on Monday, 25 November, on charges of theft and possession of stolen goods. He was released on bail and is expected to appear in court again on 6 December.
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