Cop caught stealing meat
Constable ‘stole’ items shopping with husband
A police officer has been arrested and charged with theft after she allegedly attempted to walk out of a supermarket without paying for meat amounting to R620.
The constable stationed at Kliptown police station in Soweto was arrested at the Pick n Pay store in Trade Route Mall at the weekend.
The 27-year-old appeared in the Lenasia Magistrate’s Court on Monday and was released on R500 bail.
According to police spokesman Captain Molefe Mokoena, the constable was shopping with her husband on Saturday and bought groceries of about R1000.
“It appears as though she paid for some of the groceries but then didn’t pay for the rest. She was stopped before she could leave the shop in question,” Mokoena said.
She is due to appear again in the same court soon.
Provincial police spokesman Captain Kay Makhubele said he could not comment on the matter as he was not aware of it. But he condemned the act, saying police members’ mandate is to uphold the law, not to break it.
Previous cases of shoplifting involving police officers include two cases affecting a Krugersdorp officer who was arrested on separate occasions in 2015. She was first arrested at Cradlestone Mall and at Randfontein’s Village Square Mall a month later.
In the first incident, it was alleged that the constable along with a colleague were caught by staff members trying to steal a headphone set worth R1 000 and USB modem worth R149 before racially abusing staff members. She was then caught a month later stealing medication from a Shoprite pharmaceutical department.
At the time, then Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba said he was concerned about the escalation of members’ misconduct.