A 30-year-old man is behind bars after an off-duty police officer arrested him following a house robbery in Bluewater Bay in Nelson Mandela Bay, last Wednesday.
Police spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu, said Warrant Officer George Vermaak was driving on the N2 when he got a frantic call from his neighbour Ray Marsh, informing him that an unknown man had just confronted his wife at about 10:00 a.m.
According to Marsh, the suspect, Mangaliso Mzileni, then jumped over the boundary wall and was moving between Maureen Circle and Riverside Drive.
Naidu says they searched the area thoroughly but were unable to locate the suspect.
She says at about 11:00 a.m. the screams of another woman was heard at the house behind Marsh’s property and when they went to investigate the suspect was spotted trying to climb through the garage window.
Vermaak then approached the suspect, who stabbed him in the back before managing to grapple free, running straight into Marsh.
Mzileni was detained on a charge of housebreaking and attempted murder while jewellery to the approximate value of R10 000 was found in his possession.
He appeared in court on 26 February and is expected to appear in court again next week for his formal bail application.
Naidu says Warrant Officer Vermaak had to get 12 stitches after being stabbed.
