Suspect arrested for mugging of Muizenberg woman

Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the mugging of a woman in Cape Town - video footage of which went viral on social media.

The incident, recorded by a security camera, occurred in broad daylight in Muizenberg on Saturday February 9.  

The video, which caused widespread outrage, particularly because no one stopped to help the young woman, shows the victim walking on the pavement next to a busy road, carrying a shopping bag in her left hand and her phone in her right.

A silver Mercedes-Benz A-Class pulls up alongside her and two men emerge, one from the front passenger seat and the other from the back seat.

As the woman realises she is being mugged and begins to run away, one of the men grabs her bag while the other, dressed in a blue hoodie and shorts, targets her phone.

The man grabs the woman from behind and she puts up a fight, clearly determined to hang on to her phone. The scuffle sends the mugger and his victim into the road. He frees himself from the woman's grip, picks up her phone and gets back into the car.

The woman gives chase as the car drives off with both doors on its left-hand side open.  She then turns and holds her head in her hands, before bending over with her hands on her knees, sitting on the pavement and bursting into tears.

Western Cape police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut said on Friday that the driver of the vehicle had been arrested on Friday morning.

“The video of the robbery, which went viral on social media, was studied by Muizenberg SAPS and assisted in the investigation. The owner of the motor vehicle was traced to Blouberg and the identity of the driver at the time of the robbery was ascertained. The suspect, a 27-year-old resident of Retreat, was arrested at 7.30am this morning and detained at Muizenberg SAPS until his court appearance on Monday, Traut said.

He said the  silver Mercedes Benz used in the crime had also been confiscated from the owner by Muizenberg police and impounded.

“The possibility of a further arrest is not ruled out,” he added.