Tshwane metro police rescued an alleged burglar from a group of residents who attacked and seriously injured him.
|||An alleged burglar, suspected of using stolen Tshwane metro police uniforms to commit his apparent crimes, was rescued by police from a group of city residents who attacked and seriously injured him.
The Tanzanian national was attacked on Monday when he was caught crawling through the ceiling of a Gezina block of flats by residents preparing for work.
The man was discovered as he allegedly tried to make his way to a part of the ceiling in the three-storey block of flats he was apparently using to hide his loot and equipment he is suspected of using to break into houses.
The man was severely beaten after residents became suspicious of noises coming from the ceiling and went to investigate, police said.
Tshwane metro police protection services commander Vusi Nkuna said when residents found the man they dragged him from the ceiling and began beating him.
“He was severely assaulted. We were alerted to the mob justice attack and rescued the man.”
Several people told police the man had been found in the ceiling.
“When we went to look there we found several metro police shirts, caps and a pair of metro police issued boots.
“We also recovered thousands of rand of dagga hidden inside plastic shopping bags and suspected stolen electrical appliances, including DVD players. Our officers recovered the payslip of a student metro police member whose home may have been burgled by this man.
“We are investigating that the clothing that was recovered belongs to the student,” he said. - Pretoria News