Chronicle Editor
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
A 27-YEAR-OLD man from Dulivhadzimu suburb in Beitbridge has been arrested for breaking into and stealing from 16 vehicles in the border town.
Tafadzwa Mhofu was arrested on Wednesday last week after raiding his latest victim in the Tshitaudze suburb (Ma two-rooms).
He is believed to be part of a syndicate of thieves who break windows to gain access to vehicles and steal valuables including money, car batteries, radios and amplifiers.
Matabeleland South police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Thabani Mkwananzi said Mhofu was arrested by detectives following a tip-off.
“Some interrogations were done resulting in the suspect leading the detectives to several houses around the high-density suburbs of Beitbridge where he had stolen car batteries, car radios, and other valuables from parked motor vehicles,” he said.
Asst Insp Mkwananzi said Mhofu told the detectives that he uses screwdrivers to break quarter glasses of parked motor vehicles, open the doors of the vehicles and then steal property during the night.
He said police recovered 18 car batteries, two amplifiers, four speakers, a pressure pump and a car radio from various people who had bought them from Mhofu.
He said the suspect’s “tools of trade” that included a pair of pliers, three screwdrivers and a pair of scissors have been recovered by the police.
“The man’s arrest has helped us clear 16 cases of theft from motor vehicles,” said Asst Insp Mkwananzi. -@tupeyo
Online Reporter