Student pursues ‘phone thief’ from Potchefstroom campus to CBD

What began as a trusting gesture at a campus cafeteria turned into an adrenaline-filled ordeal for Nathan Cooper, who refused to let his stolen property disappear. A first-year mechatronics engineering student at North West University, Cooper regained possession of his device just three hours later thanks to a coordinated community effort,reportsPotchefstroom Herald. The SAPS played a key role in the arrest and, together with Cooper, tracked down and apprehended the suspect using a GPS mobile tracking app.

Cooper says a stranger approached him at the cafeteria next to the amphitheatre on campus and asked to use his phone. “He approached me around 10:40, just before my maths class. At that stage, I was sitting and eating.

The man asked to use my phone because his was ‘broken’. He said he wanted to message his friend, who then sent photos of fire hydrants to my phone.” The man briefly left and returned, asking to borrow the phone again to take a photo. “I am a trusting person, so I thought he would bring it back.

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After five minutes I became worried,” Cooper adds. He used a bystander’s phone to contact his girlfriend, who was able to see his device’s location. The signal was initially traced to Wandellaan in the Potchefstroom CBD.

A friend offered Cooper a lift to the location, where they were joined by Mooirivier Beskerming. However, they could not gain access to the premises without the police. After opening a case at the police station, Cooper joined officers in a patrol vehicle to follow the live signal, which moved from the Royal Hotel to Riverwalk Mall and finally to Mooirivier Mall.

“When the officers approached the suspected vehicle, I rang my phone using the app so that the officer could hear it ringing,” Cooper explains. “The man had apparently taken the Sim card out and wrapped the phone in tin foil, thinking it would not be detected.” North-West police spokesperson, Sergeant Kelebogile Morake, confirmed that a case of theft had been opened and the suspect appeared in court yesterday. Breaking news at your fingertips…Follow Caxton Network News onFacebookand join ourWhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak.Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus opFacebooken sluit aan by onsWhatsApp-kanaal.

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