A suspected stolen vehicle was seized by police outside Stellenbosch this week after it was allegedly stolen in Grassy Park in June.

“The theft of the vehicle was reported to police last month, and the car’s details were loaded onto the network of licence plate recognition (LPR) cameras that cover a large part of the peninsula. It is this network that was triggered when this car drove past an LPR camera this week,” explains Verena Hulme, Cape Town North district manager at Fidelity ADT.

The vehicle was picked up by the camera on Wednesday 7 July 2021, and local armed response officers and the police were alerted. Attempts to locate the vehicle did not succeed initially, but one of the community operations managers decided to keep an eye on the area in case the vehicle resurfaced.

“This persistence paid off, and our team member’s patrol of the Polkadraai Road and Baden Powell Drive area on Thursday led to the suspected stolen vehicle again being spotted. Stellenbosch SAPS was alerted to assist and the vehicle was stopped along Polkadraai Road and its driver taken into custody for questioning,” says Hulme.

The vehicle was seized by police and taken away for further investigation.

“LPR cameras are proving to be a powerful tool in the fight against crime as it allows law enforcement and security companies to have fast access to useful information, and for this to be shared across a large geographical area. Please report all crimes to the SAPS, as it is often this information that later can be used to successfully arrest suspects,” says Hulme.

Issued by HWB Communications Pty Ltd