| 2025/02/15 |
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Media Statement
NELSPRUIT – An alleged thief who has been in hiding for too long has been arrested by the men and women in Blue. Innocent John Pretorius (51) was nabbed in the evening of 12 February 2025 on theft charges. It is alleged that the suspect committed theft in July 2024 whereby valuable items were stolen from a 76-year-old pensioner, a resident at a certain Old Age Home in Belfast. The suspect is said to have been providing a cleaning service to the institution and it is alleged that during the rendering of these services, he used it as an opportunity to help himself with some valuables from the elderly. A case docket was registered, however the suspect is said to have vanished into thin air and has been on the run ever since. The man could not be located by the Police until recently. The investigation by the Police also revealed that he could be somehow involved in several incidents of a similar nature that were committed in various Old Age Homes around Belfast, Middelburg, Howard and Paulpietersburg At this stage, Police cannot rule out possibilities that the male suspect could be fingered in other similar criminal offences carried out in areas that have not yet been mentioned. The suspect has already appeared at the Belfast Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 14 February 2025 where the case was postponed to 24 February 2025. The suspect remained in custody until his next court appearance.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General (Dr.) Zeph Mkhwanazi has welcomed the arrest. “The arrest of the suspect should encourage the public to continue in having confidence in our justice system. People should open cases when crime is committed so that on the day when a perpetrator is caught, then it becomes possible to charge such a suspect accordingly, thereby bringing such suspect to justice,” said the General.
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