Cop gets his man - 11yrs later

2008-04-16 08:04

Rozanne Els

Stellenbosch - The law, apart from having a long arm, also can have the memory of an elephant.

Okker Koopman, 39, recently discovered this when he was arrested 11 years after he was supposed to appear in court in connection with house-breaking and robbery.

Apparently it took a while for the penny to drop for Koopman.

Detective Inspector Gabriël Cupido had to describe the 1997 robbery, when tools worth R20 000 were stolen from a house in the main street in Greyton, before it dawned on Koopman what was going on.

A warrant was issued years ago for Koopman's arrest after he had failed to appear in court.

Cupido said Koopman had disappeared without a trace. However, that did not mean that Cupido gave up.

Saw name on computer system

Occasionally, he followed up on new clues and in January this year Koopman's name appeared on the computer system of the Franschhoek police after he was arrested for drunken driving.

Cupido was not sure whether it was the same man so he carefully began making enquiries.

Koopman eventually was arrested on a farm near Franschhoek, more than a decade after the alleged house-breaking and robbery.

Koopman briefly appeared in Caledon Magistrate's Court on Monday and the hearing was postponed to May 20.

Cupido said jokingly to Die Burger that criminals should know that they could run from him for 10 years, but not forever.

- Die Burger