Hawks allegedly raid in error
BRYANSTON - A Green Street resident was allegedly subjected to a mistaken Hawks house raid early on 22 August.
“They just came in everywhere, or tried to,” said a shell-shocked Jennifer Peers of the apparent Hawks raid that jolted her household at 5.45am.
Peers and her children were woken abruptly by the sound of a helicopter overhead and the sweep of a searchlight. Her initial thought that police must be tracking a fugitive through neighbouring gardens was shattered when a number of heavily armed men abseiled into her garden, shortly followed by a vehicle breaking down her electric gate.
Peers was on the property with her daughter (9), her baby son, and three staff members when the policemen, many of whom were masked, surrounded and forcibly entered her house. The staff, whom Peers described as “severely traumatised,” were intimidated and one employee was searched, while Peers’s daughter hid terrified in a cupboard. The officers also allegedly threatened to shoot Peers’s three dogs if she did not lock them away.
“At no stage did they actually tell me what they were doing,” she said.
The raid was reportedly part of an ongoing investigation, starting in the Northern Cape, of a gold and diamond smuggling syndicate with connections to international crime. A search warrant stated sufficient evidence existed to indicate that the house was the site of criminal activity.
Peers, who is on the Sandton Sector 2 Community Policing Forum committee, described herself as extremely supportive of the police, but she was angered by the callousness demonstrated during the operation and in its aftermath.
The house’s electric fence was broken, as well as five glass doors and windows, and several door frames. Peers has been told she can claim damages from the state, but is distressed that she had not been offered more immediate help in securing her damaged property.
“The worst thing is they’ve left and now I have to sort out the damage,” she said.
The Hawks have yet to comment on the incident, or on a similar mistaken raid some weeks ago on a house in Midrand.
Read our previous story here:
Resident claims Hawks vandalised his property
I am horrified while reading this story! I cannot believe that the hawks, supposedly a specialized team would make such a horrific blunder and then leave this poor woman with the mess afterwards! What about her safety? Think of her children for heaven sake! Her daughter hid in the cupboard! I find this totally unacceptable! The so called hawks or the SAP need to issue a written apology to the family and the entire South African population has to see it as well AND then they need to pay for all the damages immediately!! Because of someone’s stupidity this family is not safe tonight!!!