The arrest by Uber drivers of a Grey Street resident, who stole one of the driver’s cellphones last month, has led to the perpetrator being found guilty in court with a suspended sentence.
The incident which occurred in July, followed a resident calling an Uber to fetch him from Willem Erasmus Street in Erasmia, then to take him to Danville and from there to drop him off in Laudium. However, when they got to Laudium, the accused asked the Uber driver to loan him his phone in order to make a call, but when the accused was handed the phone, he ran away with it. The Uber driver immediately called for back-up from other Uber drivers, and the accused, Sheldon Arnechellan (27), was caught and beaten up and then handed over to the police. A video of Sheldon being beaten up also went viral at the time. Sheldon was found guilty of theft in the Atteridgeville Magistrates Court last Friday and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, which was suspended for five years.
Although Sgt Simon Chokoe of the Laudium Police, for some reason, stated that, “police investigation led to the arrest,” some residents say that it was the Uber drivers who detained Sheldon and handed him over to the police. Chokoe said in a press release, “Laudium police welcomed the conviction of the accused, Sheldon Arnechellan, for theft of a cellphone from an Uber driver which occurred in July this year. Dedicated member, Sergeant Motubatse managed to secure a conviction of twelve months imprisonment wholly suspended for five years on condition that the accused is not convicted for the same offence. The accused is declared unfit to possess a firearm. It is alleged that the Uber driver got a call from the accused to pick him up in Willem Erasmus Street in Erasmia and take him to Danville, then drop him off in Laudium. When they got to Laudium, the accused asked the Uber driver to borrow him his cellphone (worth R3000.00) to make a call. The accused then disappeared with the phone. After a case was opened, police investigation led to the arrest of the accused, and the cellphone was recovered. The conviction was handed out at the Atteridgeville Magistrates Court, on 2022-08-05.”
