Cindy Liebenberg
BRILLAINT police work by a local detective is the reason three suspected thieves are behind bars.
Following an armed robbery of the Van Eedens Jewellery store in Humansdorp on March 17 this year, Detective Warrant Officer Pieter Prinsloo of the Humansdorp detective branch relentlessly pursued the perpetrators, eventually tracking the last two down in Johannesburg.
Prinsloo says on the day of the robbery one of the alleged thieves was actually arrested inside the shop while the other two fled.
Investigations led him to believe that although one of the men had been working in Humansdorp they were all from up-country and had apparently arrived on a Translux bus.
Making his way to Johannesburg while working closely with his counterparts there, Prinsloo eventually managed to arrest both suspects a mere five days after arriving in Gauteng.
"I did a lot of investigating, because once a suspect leaves the town where the crime has taken place it is very difficult to track them down,” says Prinsloo.
He says he did everything by the book and by March 28 he had gathered enough evidence for the two alleged armed robbers to appear in the Johannesburg court where permission was granted for them to be returned to Humansdorp.
"When they arrived here I organised for a lineup where they were identified by the victims, making double sure that they were positively identified,” Prinsloo said.
Malcolm Nkomo, 37, Nkosinathi Ndebele, 34 and Madnla Mabane, 39 appeared in the Humansdorp court on April 4 and are remanded at St Albans until May 5.
The case has been transferred to the regional court.
