Bulawayo Car Dealer Arrested For Allegedly Stealing Luxury Vehicle From Car Wash
A 30-year-old Bulawayo car dealer-cum socialite, Brighton Chipunza, also known as “Dash,” was set to appear in court on Tuesday morning in connection with the theft of a South African registered Toyota Fortuner.
The vehicle was stolen from a car wash in Bulawayo’s Central Business District (CBD) last week.
According to documents gleaned by the Chronicle, Chipunza was implicated in the crime after his WhatsApp chats with the supposed buyer and his accomplice in Harare were discovered.
The vehicle was recovered from a suspected accomplice, Julius Chitubhu, in Harare, with the help of a vehicle tracking company and police detectives.
Chitubhu has appeared in court and was remanded out of custody to December 11 on ZiG10,000 bail for the commencement of trial.
Chipunza’s case was delayed as the State and his defence failed to agree on interviewing the investigating officer.
It is alleged that on November 18 at 10 AM, Silibaziso Ncube assigned her employee, Jonathan Ngando Thuli, to take the vehicle to the Tunnel car wash for cleaning. Read the document:
He then drove the vehicle to the car wash and left it with Panashe Dube who works at the car wash. Dube cleaned the vehicle and parked it outside the car wash under a tree shed.
He secured the vehicle by locking all the doors and windows and took the car keys with him to the car wash where he placed them on top of the hoover and continued with his daily duties
At around 4 PM on the same day, Ncube went to the car wash to collect her vehicle and was shocked to find it missing.
Upon inquiring with the staff, she learned that the vehicle had been stolen. She promptly reported the matter to the police.
Members of the Vehicle Theft Squad (VTS) checked the car wash and discovered that the CCTV cameras at the facility had been deactivated. Read the document:
Dube who was left cleaning the motor vehicle stated that he saw Ncube’s vehicle leaving the premises and thought that it was being driven by her. He also checked for the car keys and discovered that they were missing.
On November 19 the tracking system affixed to the vehicle indicated that it was in Harare. Reads the document:
The stolen vehicle was found parked at Chitunhu’s yard with the front and rear number plates missing. The engine chassis number had also been ground off.
A grinder, 2x stencils, acid and 3x spray paints were recovered from the vehicle upon interviewing Chitunhu who then implicated Chipunza.
More: Pindula News
