UPDATE: Farrarmere robbery victim told to swallow bullet
A single round of ammunition in a Farrarmere home was what convinced at least three robbers that they were being lied to when they were told there were no weapons in the house.
This is according to Mark Knight, a longtime friend of the Blyde Street homeowner and victim, who, along with his 16-year-old son, were beaten up in their house on Saturday, just after 2.30am.
READ:
Father, son (16) assaulted in Farrarmere house robbery
The resident, who was also a victim of a house robbery in the same house about a year ago, did not want his identity revealed and refused to speak to the City Times.
Knight on Monday morning said the father and his son were asleep when they were woken by the intruders, who entered through a window which did not have burglar bars.
Lt Col Mack Mngomezulu, the spokesperson for the police’s Ekurhuleni Central Cluster, said four people entered the house, where the teenager and his 45-year-old father were sleeping.
“There was a struggle in the house and both victims were assaulted and badly injured,” the spokesperson said.
However, Knight said his friend told him there were three intruders. Knight described how the homeowner was asleep on the couch while his son was sleeping in his bedroom when the three broke in.
One of the men carried a firearm while the other was wielding a panga.
“Straight away they asked for guns and where the safe was,” said Knight.
The friend said the pair told the assailants there weren’t any weapons or a safe.
The father was hit with a baseball bat which the criminals found in the home while the son was made to look on.
Knight said they did this in an attempt to have the son reveal the location of what they were looking for.
“When they found the single round of ammunition, they kept saying: ‘You are lying, you do have guns,” said Knight.
They were then unsuccessful in making him swallow the bullet, which Knight said his friend received from his father many years ago.
The criminals made off with clothes, the son’s school books and electronics, amongst other items.
“He offered them to take his car and to leave them alone but they were not interested at all,” Knight added.
He said the teenager’s screams alerted neighbours who called a security company.
By the end of the ordeal, the youngster was slapped with a firearm and the father was again hit with the baseball bat.
Knight said his friend received staples and stitches to the head.
The father and son were discharged from hospital on Saturday.
By Monday morning, no arrests had been made.
Const Zama Madonda, spokesperson for the Benoni Police Station, said a case of house robbery has been opened.
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