Tracker arrests a 'clutch' of criminals in broken car

Shortly after the Springboks had lifted the William Webb Ellis trophy in the Rugby World Cup final, a Tracker recovery crew and members of the SAPS East Rand Flying Squad began tracking a vehicle that had been hijacked in Boksburg North earlier in the evening.

After a lengthy track, they located the vehicle in Eden Park on the East Rand shortly before 03h00 on Sunday morning (October 21, 2007) and were surprised at what they discovered.

As Tracker and the SAPS arrived on the scene they found one suspect in the driver's seat and another seven pushing the vehicle which appeared to be having clutch problems.

"With an average of one arrest for every five vehicles we recover, we're used to catching criminals behind the wheel of stolen or hijacked vehicles, but seldom behind the boot," says Tracker's Communications Manager, Gareth Crocker.

All eight suspects, including one woman, were arrested and detained at the Eden Park Police Station. Some of the suspects appeared to have been drinking.

"It's possible that the allegedly inebriated suspects, intoxicated by the Springboks' victory, had been out 'joy riding' in the hijacked vehicle before the clutch was damaged. However, this is only speculation at this stage and has not yet been confirmed," Crocker said.