Police have arrested three men who were allegedly running a business in Pelican Park using a rickshaw that was stolen from Harfield Village last year.
The yellow rickshaw was stolen from a locked garage last October (“Public asked to track down stolen rickshaw,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, November 3, 2022).
Last Thursday, police arrested two men, aged 19 and 25, at a Pelican Park shopping complex who led officers to a 38-year-old man, said Grassy Park police spokeswoman Captain Wynita Kleinsmith.
The arrests were made after the rickshaw’s owner, Harfield Village businessman Lew Norgarb, was tipped off about its whereabouts.
“I received a tip-off along with a photo and the location of a now white rickshaw, which appeared to be conducting some sort of passenger business near Pelican Park shopping mall,” he said.
While the rickshaw had been painted white on the outside, the original yellow colour was still evident on the inside near the seat.
Mr Norgarb said the police had made the arrests and recovered the rickshaw within 30 minutes of him contacting the Grassy Park police station commander Colonel Dawood Laing.
Captain Kleinsmith said the two young men had been paying the older man R200 to use the rickshaw. “Whatever else they made after the R200, they could keep for themselves,” she said.
The three suspects had appeared in Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday May 15, charged with possession of stolen goods, she said.
Captain Kleinsmith confirmed that the rickshaw belonged to the Harfield Village resident.
Before it was stolen, the rickshaw was used to give children rides at community events.
Mr Norgarb said he had heard that the three men had been using his rickshaw to give lifts to elderly ladies going shopping.
“I have to say that as an entrepreneur myself, there’s a part of me that almost feels sorry these guys got bust.”