BLUE ALERT #164 FOR ALL AREAS FOR THE WEEK PRECEDING 29 SEPTEMBER 2011

Glenwood, Moore Road.  Gatecrashing - Residential (22 September 2011, 4:57:50)  
Suspects derailed the driveway gate and forced open the security gate and front door. A laptop, computer monitor and tools were stolen.

Glen Anil, Wattle Road.  Gatecrashing - Residential  (22 September 2011, 9:08:15) 
Suspects forced open the driveway gate and the kitchen stable door. A plasma screen TV, an XBox and jewellery were stolen.

Kloof, Ronalds Road. Gatecrashing - Residential (24 September 2011, 12:42:45)  
Suspects forced open the driveway gate and kicked in the front door. A safe was forced open and documents and other items were stolen from the safe. A radio was also stolen. 

Overport, Overport Drive. Gatecrashing - Residential (25 September 2011, 5:25:34)  
Suspects forced open the driveway gate and the security gate and front door. A computer was stolen.  

There was a time when the Highway area, particularly the upper Highway area, was most affected by the practice of gatecrashing. However, with the increase in the number of Blue Community Policing Projects the upper Highway area, these communities have become less appealing to criminals and we’ve noticed them move to other areas in Durban.  As the modus operandi of criminals changes so, too, do your security needs.  For a free security assessment, please call our Pinetown office on 031 717 500 or our Umhlanga office at 031 584 6574 / 7354 and we will arrange for a sales consultant to see you at your convenience.

Berea, Windmill Road. Gatecrashing - Business (21 September 2011, 6:37:25)
Suspects forced open the driveway gate and a door to the basement. An industrial fan was stolen.  

With summer on the way an industrial fan could come in handy. Wrong! The only use for an industrial fan is its value in the hands of a scrap metal dealer. Interestingly, Berea residents are so fed up with metal theft that they are now calling on the police to monitor the “comings and goings ” at scrap metal yards.  Report any suspicious activity to the Telkom Hotline at 0800 124 000, the Eskom Hotline at 080 011 2722 or the eThekwini Traffic Hotline at 080 131 3031.

Gillitts, Horseshoe Road. Housebreaking - Residential (21 September 2011, 9:40:17) 
Suspects jump over the perimeter wall into the property.  The front door was forced open and a laptop and plasma screen TV were stolen.

Properly installed electric fencing would likely to have stopped these intruders from entering the property. Just so that you know, when electric fencing is installed, the frame carrying the strands should be angled away from the protected area. If the strands are upright, thieves may be able to throw a heavy duty blanket over the wires and scramble across. Special attention should be paid to the corners of walls as these points can be a weak security spot. Ideally your electric fence should be “zoned” and connected to your alarm system to serve as an early warning system.

Glen Anil, Cypress Drive. Housebreaking - Residential (22 September 2011, 16:40:16)
Suspects broke a lounge window and pushed in the burglar guard. A laptop, digital camera and jewellery were stolen.  

You know you’re in SA when you save up for months to buy a TV, digital camera or a car for someone else to steal. Again, early detection can stop criminals from a) getting into your property and b) breaking into your home which = savings from expensive losses.

Westville, Beaconsfield. Housebreaking - Residential (24 September 2011, 14:17:02)  
Suspects forced open the front door. A laptop and jewellery were stolen.

Overport, Ridge Road. Housebreaking Residential. (23 September 2011, 7:53:08) 
Various items were stolen from the garage.

Kloof, Alamein Avenue. Housebreaking - Residential (23 September 2011, 19:24:53)
Suspects broke the glass on a sliding door and entered the premises.  A plasma screen TV, a decoder and a DVD player were stolen.

Westriding, Lesley Road. Housebreaking - Residential (24 September 2011, 21:41:24) 
Suspects forced open the kitchen widow and pushed in the burglar guard. A plasma screen TV, two computers, a DVD play, a Hi-Fi and a kettle were stolen. 

"Bother burgling and everything to do with it! I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire with the kettle just beginning to sing!" Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit, Chapter 2. 
 
We wish that our criminal element would stay in their holes and choose the hearth and a nice cup of tea over a life of crime. But we know that’s never going to happen and after that brief flight of fancy we’re no closer to solving the mystery of all the “stolen kettles”!  

Glenwood, Evans Road. Housebreaking - Residential  (25 September 2011, 15:14:32) 
Suspects forced open a front window and pushed in the burglar guard. A laptop was stolen.

Winston Park, Jan Smuts Avenue. Housebreaking - Residential (25 September 2011, 18:46:54) 
Suspects broke a lounge window and entered the premises. A PVR decoder was stolen. 

Forest Hills, Diana Place. Housebreaking - Residential  (23 September 2011, 23:48:12)
Suspects entered the premises through a door. Two TVs were stolen.

Pinetown, Doone Road. Housebreaking - Residential (27 September 2011, 12:42:45)  
Suspects entered the house by forcing open a bedroom window at the back of the house and pushing in the burglar guard. A TV and jewellery were stolen.

Glenhills, Longwoods Drive. Housebreaking - Residential (28 September 2011, 3:01:15)    
Suspects entered the house through an open and unsecured toilet window. A PlayStation, two laptops, a DVD player, a cell phone, jewellery and takkies were stolen.  

Jewellery is a very common item stolen in household burglaries. Obviously, you don’t want to leave your jewellery in the places where the burglar will first look: dresser drawers, drawers by phones, desks, cupboards, a safe (if not bolted down), boxes, jewellery boxes, purse, etc.).

Valuable pieces should be kept in an inconspicuous place, preferably in a safe that’s been professionally installed and is not easy to carry off. You can also get creative – we heard of someone who stored their jewellery in a flour tin in the kitchen. Obviously if you decide to store your jewellery in a Campbell’s soup tin and then you hid it in the bedroom cupboard this will be a red flag to burglars that it contains something valuable.  

Berea, Berea Road. Housebreaking - Business (25 September 2011, 5:56:29) 
Suspects entered the premises through a window and stole copper pipes from the geyser.

Durban Central, Stanger Street. Housebreaking - Business (23 September 2011, 6:32:05) 
Suspects broke a window at the back of the premises and cut through the burglar guard. A computer was stolen.

Berea, Berea Road. Housebreaking - Business  (27 September 2011, 3:57:50) 
Suspects forced open a window and entered the premises. A computer and a petty cash box were stolen.  

Glenwood, Davenport Road. Housebreaking - Business (27 September 2011, 5:45:18)  
Suspects broke the glass on the front door and entered the premises. Handbags, shoes and dresses were stolen.   

The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorise.

Rossburgh, Edwin Swales Drive. Housebreaking - Business (27 September 2011, 16:10:02) 
Suspects forced open an unsecured window and entered the premises. A laptop was stolen.  

Glenwood, Meyrick Road. Theft- Residential (21 September 2011, 16:27:05)
Suspects stole floodlights from the front of the property. 

They’ve been stealing the light for years!

New Germany, Richmond Avenue. Theft - Residential (24 September 2011, 10:22:42)
Metal was stolen from the property.

Glenwood, Davenport Road. Theft - Business (25 September 2011, 11:58:14)
Suspects stole barbed wire from the premises.   

OK, don’t know about you, but isn’t there just a little irony in that?
 
Briardene, North Coast Road. Theft - Business (25 September 2011, 20:14:47) 
The driver of a Toyota Quantum registration number ND:558198 filled up with R262 worth of petrol and drove off without paying. 

Umbilo, Umbilo Road. Theft - Business (26 September 2011, 18:51:23)
The driver of a white Toyota Quantum registration number ND555198 filled up with R353,40 worth of petrol and drove off without paying.

Can we expect more petrol theft with the price of crude reaching an all-time high? Expect so.

Amanzimtoti, Beach Road. Theft of a Motor Vehicle - Business (23 September 2011, 21:52:49)
A maroon Toyota Tazz registration number, ND:677007 was stolen from outside the premises.

New Germany, Bohmer Road. Theft out of a Motor Vehicle - Residential (23 September 2011, 1:50:45) 
Suspect cut a whole in the barbed wire fence and entered the premises. A white Chevrolet registration number XLK843GP was broken into. A DVD player was stolen from the back seat of the car.  

 Bluff, Watsonia Road. Theft out of a Motor Vehicle - Residential (25 September 2011, 4:53:11) 
Suspects broke into a Mazda 323 parked on the premises and stole two speakers.

Wyebank, Wyebank Road. Theft out of a Motor Vehicle - Residential (26 September 2011, 7:23:50)
Suspects forced open the right-hand side window of a white VW Polo registration number NU38940 parked on the premises. The resident was not sure at the time what was stolen.

Glenashley, Park Drive. Theft out of a Motor Vehicle – Business (22 September 2011, 14:07:06)
Suspects broke into a white Pajero registration number NPS: 72991 and a silver Mercedes Benz ML500 registration number ND:344952 parked in the upper level parking lot. Old clothing and an iPod were stolen.

Kloof, Uplands Drive. Theft out of a Motor Vehicle - Residential (26 September 2011, 19:04:21)
A blue VW Polo registration number ND 604055 that was parked at the back of the premises was broken into. A stereo and a baby seat were stolen.

Hillary, Stella Road. Theft out of a Motor Vehicle - Residential (28 September 2011, 1:06:50) 
The driver of a Toyota Yaris left his vehicle unlocked. A suspect opened the door and stole a laptop from the vehicle.

Morningside, Florida Road. Vandalism - Residential (24 September 2011, 5:49:37)
Suspects smashed the rear window of a VW Polo. Nothing was stolen from the vehicle.

SUCCESSES
Carrington Heights, Myro Drive. Housebreaking - Residential (21 September 2011, 13:00:26) 
A suspect was apprehended climbing over the fence at the back of the property. The suspect had forced open the kitchen door and stolen jewellery. 

Caught red-handed! That’s the way we like it.

Durban North, Fairway. Attempted Housebreaking - Residential (24 September 2011, 2:51:44)
A resident reported that there was a suspect on the roof. The suspect cut a hole in the electric fence and fled onto the freeway side of the property. The suspect was apprehended. 

Durban Central, Gale Street. Trespassing (25 September 2011, 13:36:43) 
A suspect jumped over the fence and entered the property and was apprehended. 

Our guys were at these premises in record time, so quick these criminals didn’t even have a chance to get to the door.  

Attempted housebreaking where nothing appears to have been stolen:
Amanzimtoti, Old Main Road (23 September 2011, 9:20:42) 
Berea, Berea Road (24 September 2011, 1:25:49) 
Berea,  Essenwood Road (24 September 2011, 5:30:23) 
Durban Central, Stanger Street (23 September 2011, 7:54:37) 
Glenwood, Manning Road (24 September 2011, 4:35:22) 
Highland Hills, Vivien Road (26 September 2011, 1:56:27) 
Jacobs, Milner Street  (23 September 2011, 2:56:58) 
Morningside, Madeline Road (24 September 2011, 13:50:39)
Morningside, Trematon Drive (24 September 2011, 20:43:30)
New Germany, Sandhurst Road (27 September 2011, 8:35:25) 
Padfield Park, Beare Road (24 September 2011, 14:35:38) 
Queensmead, Martin Drive (25 September 2011, 8:05:05)  
Westville, Herman Road (23 September 2011, 18:33:18)