Serial house breakers nabbed after 10 years in hiding

BEITBRIDGE - POLICE have arrested three men who have been on the police wanted list for over 10 years in connection with several cases of unlawful entry and theft in the town.

Patrick Mulambo (36), Farai Mutomba (29) and Cheeseman Vutete (39) all of no fixed abode, are accused of breaking into 24 houses and stealing electrical gadgets between March and October this year alone.

It is reported that they used iron bars to break into some of the houses and that until their arrest on Monday, they have been hiding on the banks of the Limpopo River.
They are still under investigations for further cases committed in the last decade.

They were not asked to plead to the 24 counts of unlawful entry and theft when they appeared before Gwineth Drawo on Friday. The trio was remanded in custody to 24 October.

The Court heard that the trio connived to break into 24 houses where they would steal some electrical gadgets, cell phones and clothes between March and October this year.

They allegedly used Vutete's unregistered Toyota Corolla as a gate away car and to ferry the loot, adding that the accused would pounce on the houses between 1 am and 3 am in the morning.

The state further alleges that during that period the trio stole property worth $15 576 of which that worth $3995 was recovered from them. The State said all the cases were reported to the police leading to the accused's arrest on Monday following a tip off.

Following their arrest, the accused led the police to most of the houses they broke into.
They also took the detectives to their safe house in Dulibadzimu where most of the items were recovered and positively identified by their owners.