The following crimes were reported to Brakpan police over the past weekend:
Friday – A woman was robbed of her handbag at knifepoint by two men at the corner of Station Road and Wenden Avenue.
The victim was walking to work in the morning when the pair attacked her. The stolen handbag contained the victim’s purse and bank cards, her ID book, house keys and a cellphone.
• Two house robberies took place. A Leachville family were terrorised by robbers in their Wisteria Road home at about 13:30.
The three family members were threatened at gunpoint by at least five intruders who demanded money. They victims were forced to lie down and the robbers ransacked the house, taking laptops, kitchen appliances, cellphones and other valuables.
The robbers are believed to have been travelling in a white Volkswagen Polo. Later that evening, at around 20:15, a Sherwood Gardens resident was fixing his motorbike in the garage of his De Waal Street home when he was confronted by three robbers.
One of the robbers was armed with a gun and the man was told to lie down. He was later taken into the house, where his wife and children were, and instructed to lie on the bed in the main bedroom.
The man was then forced to open a safe, in which the robbers found nothing of value. The robbers bound the hands and feet of the man and his wife. The children, who were asleep, were not disturbed.
The intruders fled with a TV, a laptop, two cellphones, jewellery, a smartwatch, a school bag and a pressure cooker.
• Two robbers, one armed with a gun and the other with a knife, made off with cash after threatening staff at a fast-food eatery at KwaThema Square in Maryvlei. The robbery took place at about 21:40.
Saturday – A Toyota Etios was stolen from Mall@Carnival.
• A Kenleaf husband and wife were robbed in their Corvette Avenue home at around 14:20.
The husband was outside when a white car stopped before the home and a man asked for water. He obliged and filled a contained with water.
The man’s wife, who was in the kitchen, saw the men entering the yard and ran out the back of the house to call for help but one of the intruders grabbed her and covered her mouth.
He also struck her with an unknown object from behind. When she tried to get up, the man hit her again. The robbers also forced the woman’s husband into the house.
It is unclear how many robbers were involved. The couple was robbed of two TVs, a handbag containing bank cards and ID books, four cellphones and jewellery.
• An attempt was made to break into a house along Northdene Avenue. A door had been forced open and the door handle broken.
Three outside lights were stolen from the residence. A car battery was stolen from a vehicle parked at the address and the car’s front window was smashed.
• A TV, power tools, perfume and other valuables were stolen during a break-in at a home in Sports Way, Anzac.
Sunday – A Withok Estates resident was assaulted during a robbery at his home along 22nd Road. Three men confronted the victim at the kitchen door while he was cooking a meal at around 14:30.
They pointed firearms at him and demanded money. One of the robbers struck the victim on the head with a firearm and pushed him.
They forced him into a bedroom where they found two keys, one for a vehicle and the other for a safe.
The robbers left him to search the house and located and opened the safe, from which they removed a firearm. They also took cash, a cellphone and a TV. The robbers then fled in the victim’s Isuzu bakkie.
• A diesel tanker was stolen during a robbery at a Vulcania business. Ten to 12 robbers armed with firearms gained access to the Springs Road premises at around 21:00 and overpowered security guards.
The robbers also stole two vehicles, a Ford Ranger bakkie and a BMW.
• A Kitzinger Avenue residence was burgled of tools.
• A silver Toyota Fortuner was stolen from an address along Prince George Avenue.
• Three men fled empty-handed after breaking into a home in Koos Vorster Avenue, Minnebron. They were found inside the house by the woman who lives there.
She was awakened by knocking at the front door at about midnight and went to investigate. She found the front door open.
The men threatened her with a gun and forced her to accompany them to the garage on the property. The men got into the vehicle parked in the garage and forced the victim to drive.
She drove the car to the front gate where the men then bound her with shoelaces and took her back to the house.
Nothing was taken from the home and the vehicle was also left behind.
