Four men were arrested after they were caught on CCTV cameras stealing copper cables in the Johannesburg CBD.
|||Johannesburg - Four men were arrested on Monday morning after they were observed on closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras while they were stealing copper cables from a manhole in the Johannesburg central business district (CBD), police said.
Johannesburg’s CBD is monitored by authorities using CCTV.
The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said the cable theft occurred around 04:30 at the corner of Diagonal Street and Helen Joseph Street. After the suspected criminals were observed removing the cables from the manhole metro police officers responded.
When officers arrived, two suspects fled the scene, but they were pursued and arrested. Once arrested the pair told the officers that their colleagues were still in the manhole.
JMPD said the officers were able to arrest the other two suspects and recover the stolen copper cable.
Minaar said the suspects also claimed they were working with security guards, whom they said told them where to find the cables.
The four suspects have been charged with cable theft. They will soon appear in court.
Police are investigating claims that security guards were involved in the theft of cables.
African News Agency