‘Cops helped kleptomaniac’
Source: The Herald Online
Johannesburg – Two former policemen who helped a kleptomaniac woman escape into the ceiling in Sandton City have been convicted of corruption and will be sentenced on May 8.
Brenton Klopper, 28, and Wolfgang Wiese, 26, appeared in the Johannesburg regional court yesterday for sentencing, but the case was postponed because the probation officer’s report was not ready.
The court previously heard evidence from a slightly-built, “very embarrassed” businesswoman that she had been arrested eight times in all for theft of items she did not really need and could easily have paid for, and had been convicted five times for shoplifting.
She was receiving treatment for being a kleptomaniac.
The elegantly-dressed woman said she was caught shoplifting at Stuttafords on September 9, 2000. She took a chance and asked Klopper and Wiese if there was any way she could “avoid” the situation.
She was asked if she had any money on her and replied that she had a few hundred rands.
Klopper and Wiese helped her escape into the ceiling through an open trapdoor.
The woman became lost and crawled around in the ceiling for two hours. Eventually she was re-arrested. The policemen denied her testimony. – Sapa
