Woman and three children arrested for pickpocketing

THREE children and an adult believed to be linked to a pickpocketing ring have been caught in Riviersonderend in the Western Cape only a day after allegedly stealing a cellphone from a customer inside the Sunridge Village shopping centre at the weekend.

The arrest came after detectives identified the getaway car, a rented Nissan Micra, through video footage in the shopping centre car park.

An alert was sent to police officials to be on the lookout for the car.

It was later spotted in Riviersonderend at midday on Monday.

A 23-year-old woman and three minors, aged eight, 16 and 17, were detained after 15 cellphones, suspected to be stolen, were found in the car.

A man, who was also in the car, was arrested but later released due to lack of evidence.

According to officials, the Micra was rented under someone else’s name in Cape Town last month.

As the investigation continues, the woman could be charged under the Child Justice Act for recruiting or coercing children into committing a crime.

Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said the eight-year-old girl had been taken home to Mitchells Plain and released into the custody of her parents.

The parents were issued with a summons to bring the child to the Nerina House Court in Port Elizabeth by next week.

The two teenagers and the woman remain in custody and were due to arrive in Port Elizabeth yesterday.

Janse van Rensburg said the arrest came after a shopper was pickpocketed inside the Sunridge SuperSpar on Sunday morning.

The woman is due to appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court today and the two teenagers in the Nerina House Court.