On Sunday afternoon, at approximately 3.15pm, Auxiliary Law Enforcement officers responded to a call for assistance from the City Bowl Armed Response on the local Neighbourhood Watch community radio. The caller reported that a “riotous male” was throwing stones at members of the public and City Bowl Armed Response officers in Van Riebeeck Park.
On arrival, the Auxiliary Law Enforcement officers found the male in question setting fire to the mountainside.
The suspect was detained while officers managed to obtain a garden hose from a neighbouring house and used it to extinguish the fire before being joined by fire service team members.
“The City of Cape Town’s Fire & Rescue team arrived in under 10 minutes to assist the officers, as well as Table Mountain National Parks Fire Teams,” City of Cape Town Law Enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason said. “The suspect was transported to Cape Town Central SAPS and charged with arson. Officers later found out that this is the second fire the suspect has been arrested for this year, the first one at the end of January 2019.”
Picture: Supplied/ JP Smith/Wayne Dyason