Weekend crime round-up

The following crimes were reported to Brakpan police over the weekend:

Friday – A home in Tinker Road, Brenthurst, was burgled of a TV, a cellphone and groceries.
• A woman was robbed of her cellphone by a lone gunman along Atomic Street in Vulcania.

The victim was walking to work at 18:10 when she was confronted by the man, who pointed a gun at her and demanded her belongings. He took her cellphone and ran off.

• A blue Renault Sandero was stolen from an address along Stoffberg Avenue.

• Equipment and cellphones were stolen during a robbery at a building site along Hospital Road in Brakpan North.
Two security guards on duty were confronted by a gang of five or more gunmen at around 23:00. The victims’ hands and feet were tied and the pair was assaulted.

Three of the robbers were left to watch over them. The guards could hear the others moving around outside. The robbers took cellphones from the guard room and then fled.

Saturday – A computer screen, a laptop and R2 000 in cash was stolen during a robbery at a company along Floors Street in Withok Estates. Seven or more men armed with guns gained access to the premises at around 01:23.

A security guard on duty heard the intruders and managed to press the panic button before they smashed a window to get inside the guard room.

The guard’s hands and feet were tied with a cellphone charger and he was robbed of his cellphone. He was taken to the office on the premises and the men forced open the security gate.

The guard was then returned to the guard room and some of the robbers went back to the office. Armed response arrived and the security guard heard gunshots. The robbers fled and the armed response officers untied the guard and his manager was contacted.

• The driver of a white Nissan NP300 was hijacked at the corner of Prince George Avenue and Thomas Street in Brenthurst at 15:00.

The driver and a colleague were travelling from Springs to Brakpan to deliver cigarettes when the driver of a white Volkswagen Polo pulled in front of them and stopped. Two gunmen climbed out of the Polo and approached the victims, demanding money.

The hijackers told the pair to get out of the vehicle and started searching inside. They then got into the bakkie and drove away. Cigarettes valued at hundreds of thousands of rands, a cellphone and airtime were stolen along with the bakkie.

• Three robbers made off with cash, cigarettes and a cellphone after robbing the owner of a supermarket in Minnebron. The robbers entered the Koos Vorster Avenue shop just after 18:00 pretending to be customers.

One of them grabbed a cold drink from the fridge and headed to the counter to pay. He then pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the owner.

His accomplices also pulled out guns and threatened the victim. They took what they wanted and fled from the store.

Sunday – A man was robbed at gunpoint while waiting outside an address along Trollip Street in Brenthurst at 15:15.

A bronze/gold-coloured Ford Ranger bakkie pulled up and a male armed with a gun approached the victim and instructed him to lie down.

The victim was searched and robbed of his wristwatch, cellphone, wallet and firearm. A pair of tekkies and another cellphone were stolen from the victim’s vehicle.

• A woman was robbed by the occupants of a gold-coloured double cab Ford Ranger bakkie along Victoria Avenue at 15:30.

The victim’s daughter-in-law stopped to drop her off at the address when her car was bumped from behind by the bakkie.

The victim climbed out the car and approached the bakkie when one of the occupants got out and pointed a gun at her.

He took her handbag containing her cellphone, a wallet with cash, her driver’s licence, bank cards, her ID card, medication and prescription spectacles.