The provincial police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele, says it is alleged that the suspects broke into the flat of the 65-year-old Barry Claasen in Universitas on 29 April 2020. He says they allegedly took his cell phone and vehicle keys. He was left injured after the incident and was admitted to a local hospital. 

Makhele says while Claasen was still in hospital, the person he assigned to safeguard his flat reported to the Park Road Police Station on 3 May 2020  that the garage of the flat has been broken into and the vehicle was stolen. The police traced the vehicle and it was located at a drug post in Zastron Street in the Central Business District of Bloemfontein. Makhele says a 30-year-old well-known motor vehicle thief from Rocklands in Mangaung was arrested in connection with the theft of the vehicle on 5 May 2020. His arrest led to the arrest of the four other suspects aged 20, 30, 31 and 35 years old. They will all appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Thursday 7 May 2020 to face charges of house robbery and motor vehicle theft. 

OFM News