Law enforcement officers arrested a suspect within 30 minutes of two tourists being pepper-sprayed and robbed at knifepoint on Thursday on Signal Hill in Cape Town.
“Members sprang into action. Armed with a description, they set off across the mountain and soon started collecting discarded items along the way that had been stolen. Plotting the direction of the assailant, they co-ordinated with additional units to intercept,” said the city’s safety and security MMC JP Smith.
A suspect was taken into custody, and an iPhone, wrapped in foil in an apparent attempt to prevent it from being GPS tracked, recovered. The victims were reunited with their belongings.
“Our members are deployed to the hiking trails and known tourist attractions, as well as the various beaches and swimming pools. Our traffic enforcement is also heightened, with an additional deployment across our 12,000 kilometres of roadway,” said Smith.
It has been a busy few days for professional and volunteer rescuers in the Mother City.
Wilderness Search and Rescue said a 41-year-old US hiker collapsed while hiking up the Lion’s Head trail on Christmas Day. Passing hikers alerted emergency services and he was transported to a nearby hospital.
Later a 54-year-old Dutch hiker collapsed on Platteklip Gorge. She was airlifted to safety. Teams responded to Lion’s Head after a 33-year-old visiting hiker from Centurion collapsed in hot conditions on Thursday. She was assisted by paramedics and taken to hospital by ambulance.
TimesLIVE