News / Local
Police dogs maul 3 suspected copper thieves
21 Jun 2014 at 10:24hrs | Views
THREE suspected copper thieves, hospitalised after being allegedly mauled by police dogs as they tried to escape arrest, were yesterday remanded to their beds at a Bulawayo hospital.
The fourth suspect, Kangeli Tambabakamulamu escaped with minor injuries.
He appeared in court and was remanded in custody to July 4.
A police source yesterday told Chronicle that Tambabakamulamu, 51, Julius Mugova, 46, Tawanda Bopoto, 41, and Amos Kwatara, 55, were mauled at the scene of the crime when they tried to escape from law enforcement agents.
The three hospitalised suspects appeared before magistrate Sibongile Msipa facing two counts of unlawful damage, cutting and interference with apparatus for generating, transmitting, distribution or supplying of electricity and failure to give a satisfactory account of possession of copper at a makeshift court at the United Bulawayo Hospitals yesterday.
They were remanded to their beds at UBH.
Tambabakamulamu appeared at the magistrates' court facing similar charges.
However, the four told magistrate Msipa that police set the vicious dogs on them while they were lying on the ground resulting in serious injuries.
Mugova showed the court dog bites on his legs and thighs.
"I have complaints against the police because they set their dogs on me and I have open wounds on my body," he said.
Bopoto sustained injuries on his left thigh and has a swollen ankle, while Kwatara who said police set their dogs while he was handcuffed has dog bites all over the body and open wounds on thighs, neck, legs and toes.
Prosecutor Denmore Kasenza told the court that on June 13 this year, detectives received a tip off that the four were selling copper cables believed to be stolen from the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC).
One of the ZETDC's employees pretended to be a copper buyer and approached Mugova who produced a sample.
Mugova added that the copper transaction was to be done at night.
On the June 18 at about 7PM police teamed up with security personnel from ZETDC and proceeded to Cold Storage Company in Belmont where the alleged transaction was to take place.
Police ambushed and arrested the four at the scene after they had loaded two heaps of the cables onto the alleged buyer's truck.
Police recovered 164 kilogrammes of the copper cables valued at $2,092.
The four further led police to a ZETDC power station where they indicated how they had cut the recovered cables using a hacksaw which was recovered in a storeroom at the Cold Storage Company.
Magistrate Msipa instructed the state to investigate the matter of attacks by the dogs.
The fourth suspect, Kangeli Tambabakamulamu escaped with minor injuries.
He appeared in court and was remanded in custody to July 4.
A police source yesterday told Chronicle that Tambabakamulamu, 51, Julius Mugova, 46, Tawanda Bopoto, 41, and Amos Kwatara, 55, were mauled at the scene of the crime when they tried to escape from law enforcement agents.
The three hospitalised suspects appeared before magistrate Sibongile Msipa facing two counts of unlawful damage, cutting and interference with apparatus for generating, transmitting, distribution or supplying of electricity and failure to give a satisfactory account of possession of copper at a makeshift court at the United Bulawayo Hospitals yesterday.
They were remanded to their beds at UBH.
Tambabakamulamu appeared at the magistrates' court facing similar charges.
However, the four told magistrate Msipa that police set the vicious dogs on them while they were lying on the ground resulting in serious injuries.
Mugova showed the court dog bites on his legs and thighs.
"I have complaints against the police because they set their dogs on me and I have open wounds on my body," he said.
Bopoto sustained injuries on his left thigh and has a swollen ankle, while Kwatara who said police set their dogs while he was handcuffed has dog bites all over the body and open wounds on thighs, neck, legs and toes.
Prosecutor Denmore Kasenza told the court that on June 13 this year, detectives received a tip off that the four were selling copper cables believed to be stolen from the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC).
One of the ZETDC's employees pretended to be a copper buyer and approached Mugova who produced a sample.
Mugova added that the copper transaction was to be done at night.
On the June 18 at about 7PM police teamed up with security personnel from ZETDC and proceeded to Cold Storage Company in Belmont where the alleged transaction was to take place.
Police ambushed and arrested the four at the scene after they had loaded two heaps of the cables onto the alleged buyer's truck.
Police recovered 164 kilogrammes of the copper cables valued at $2,092.
The four further led police to a ZETDC power station where they indicated how they had cut the recovered cables using a hacksaw which was recovered in a storeroom at the Cold Storage Company.
Magistrate Msipa instructed the state to investigate the matter of attacks by the dogs.
Source - chronicle
