Weekend crime round-up
An overview of crimes reported to local SAPS from August 18 to 20.
The following crimes were reported to Brakpan police over the past weekend:
Friday – A gate motor, paint, a gas heater, a gas cylinder and an air condition were stolen from a home in Luther Circle, Brakpan North.
• A home in Hamilton Avenue was burgled of a grinder valued at R300.
• A TV, a sound system and clothes were stolen during a break-in at a residence in the Mkhancwa Village informal settlement in Maryvlei.
• Staff and customers at a Station Road guesthouse were robbed by a gang of men at 17:30. Two men arrived at the guesthouse and told a staff member they wanted to book a room. The pair viewed the rooms and decided to make a booking, for which they paid cash.
One of the men then left while the other remained behind. This man pointed a gun at the staff member who had assisted them earlier and started searching him. He took the staff member’s cellphone and some cash he had in his pocket.
The staff member was then tied up with shoelaces and the robber demanded more money. The staff member told him there was money in another room and the robber left to fetch it.
The robber was joined by more accomplices who rounded up guests and robbed them of their cellphones. Some were forced to transfer money on their banking apps. Guests were also robbed of their bank cards. The robbers then fled the scene.
• A woman was robbed of her cellphone and money at the corner of Gardiner Avenue and Station Road at 18:30.
A dark-coloured vehicle stopped in front of her as she was walking along the street. A man got out of the front passenger side of the vehicle and pointed a gun at her. He demanded her belongings, which she handed over. The gunman then returned to the car and it drove off.
Saturday – A woman and her four children were robbed in their Rand Collieries home during the early hours of the morning. Three robbers wearing balaclavas gained entry to the Witpoortjie Road home at around 00:40 by breaking a door and the security gate.
The woman woke up after hearing the intruders in the house. They confronted her in her bedroom. When she screamed, one of the robbers struck her and told her to be quiet. They searched her room and took two cellphones and an iPad.
• A white Daihatsu Cuore was stolen from Voortrekker Road.
• The occupants of a black BMW robbed a woman of her cellphone and cash as she was leaving Mall@Carnival in an e-hailing vehicle at 15:20.
The victim requested a ride and the driver arrived shortly thereafter and the victim got into the car. As they were leaving the mall, a black BMW stopped in front of them, blocking the driver’s path.
Two men alighted from the BMW and approached the car. One of the men was armed with a gun and he pointed it at the driver, instructing him to unlock the doors.
The gunman pushed the driver to the passenger seat while his accomplice joined the victim in the back. He told her to get out of the car and grabbed her bag as she did so.
He threw the contents of her bag on the ground, but took her cellphone and R1 600 cash. The victim ran back to the mall. It is unclear what happened to the driver of the e-hailing vehicle.
Sunday – No priority cases were reported at the time of publication.
