The journalist who police assisted to recover a video camera stolen from him by two armed robbers mid day 16 February, thanked the police for their swift action and the public for pointing out the suspects hideout.
Confirming the incident the journalist, Graham Welsh, a South African and not Australian as previously reported, said he was robbed while with an Austrian colleague and shooting a short story on Joburg for an European Television Station.
Welsh said they were at the last shooting spot in the township after two hours’ work at various other points in Alex when the robbers pounced.
“One of them [robbers] pinned a gun on my neck and ordered me to remove the camera from the tripod. When we attempted to resist, they ordered us to lie on the ground which we did and they started searching for my wallet- which they failed to take- and suddenly one of the robbers pulled off the camera and they both ran off as a police van appeared,” Welsh said suspecting that, they [robbers] may have been tipped of about the approaching police.
He added that he joined the police chase the suspects through alleys between the shacks with the public helping to point out where they were hiding. ” It was my first experience in a career spanning over thirty years to be robbed at gun point and in Alex a township I have been to, worked many times and still love to work in.”
The suspects are detained at the Alex Police Station cells and will appear at the Alexandra Magistrates Court on 20 February on charges of armed robbery and possession of an illegal firearm.
Details: Alex Police Station 011 431 7600
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