Team work by local armed response officers ensured that two suspects were taken into custody, shortly after they tried to steal food from a children’s home.

“Our monitoring centre team received a phone call from the EP Children’s Home on Sunday morning 31 January 2021 at around 7am. The caller described how she had opened the Home’s motorised gates to allow a bread delivery truck to enter the property,” says Ryan Britz, branch manager for Fidelity ADT in Port Elizabeth.

“The caller told us that she saw two unidentified men hiding behind the truck and illegally gaining access to the property. She asked us to immediately send armed response to assist them.”

Three armed response vehicles were alerted to rush to the Children’s Home. In the meantime, the suspects were observed breaking into a store room and stealing food before fleeing.

“By the time our officers arrived, the suspects had already fled but the property manager gave them a detailed description of the suspects and the direction in which they fled. Our officers used this information to start searching the area,” says Britz.

It didn’t take long before two men were spotted that matched the description provided earlier.

“They were ordered to stop by our officers, and apprehended. A large quantity of food was found in their possession, which was later positively identified as the food stolen from the children’s home.

“It is very disturbing to hear of incidents where criminals target vulnerable communities or groups, such as a children’s home. This is why we are very happy that we were able to successfully apprehend the suspects, and hand them over into police custody,” says Britz.

The suspects were arrested by Mount Road SAPS, and have been charged with trespassing, theft and attempted housebreaking.