Police alarmed by Toyota thefts
Pini Bothoko | Friday May 16, 2014 17:36
Most of the cars are stolen at night whilst parked at home, but the police are baffled as to how the thieves start the cars whose owners are left holding the keys. Central police acting station commander Assistant Superintendent Edward Leposo disclosed that they are currently investigating a case in which a Toyota Runx car was stolen at China town flats, next to Area A in Francistown on Monday night.
Leposo said that they received a report from the victim in the early morning of Tuesday saying he parked the car around eight in the evening and then went to sleep. However, upon waking up on Tuesday morning the car was nowhere to be found.
“We are very concerned about these types of cases. This is a strange thing in our country and we wonder who could be the perpetrators. We are mystified as to what they could have used to start the engine of the car because the car’s owner was in possession of the keys,” he said.
He said that their investigations were ongoing in their search for the car. He pleaded with members of the community to assist them.
Meanwhile, Leposo called on members of the community to be alert at all times and to make sure that they introduce adequate security on their valuables because nowadays thieves utilise highly advanced technology. “As the country develops, even thieves also introduce new technologies to upgrade their ways of robbing people of their properties. At the moment we are in the dark as to what they could have used to take that car,” he said.
Gerald Estates police chief superintendent Masego Mathitha last week confirmed that they had been alarmed by cases of car theft in her area of jurisdiction. “It is true that cars are being stolen. The last one was stolen two weeks ago at night while parked at Tangala Primary School (in Gerald Estate),” she said. Mathitha said that in November last year thieves stole one car, but since January this year, three more cars have been stolen.
She added that they have not had any leads in the cases though they were trying to trace the vehicles.
She said though they are still investigating, they have realised that the culprits seemed to target certain models of vehicles.
“We have realised that they are targeting Toyota Runx as well as Toyota Corollas,” she added.
She further urged vehicle owners to arm their cars with alarm systems and other security devices and that those who can afford should put secret tracking devices in them.
“That would help when the car is taken. People need to secure their cars to try and prevent these incidents because if there is an alarm it can alert the owner,” she said. The Botswana Police programme Itshireletse recently aired a drama that warned on the theft of cars, especially the Runx model.