Detective Constable Rich Motaung of the Douglasdale police said the case involved a 79-year-old women who was shopping at a Fourways retail centre in October last year. The victim was approached by two men who claimed to be selling selected coffee. The younger man (24) said that his colleague (52) was a famous actor who appeared on TV selling the special coffee.
Convinced, the victim decided to drive to the banking mall next to the shopping centre to withdraw cash. The younger man accompanied her in her vehicle. When they returned to the parking lot where the older man was waiting, he got into the car and pepper sprayed the victim. Both men assaulted the victim and took the money she had just withdrawn before fleeing the scene.
“Fortunately security guards on the scene came to the victim’s aid and chased down the two men,” Motaung said.
Motaung reviewed CCTV footage and profiled the suspects. He found out that both men were drug addicts and had given him false names and a false address.
Motaung suspects that the two men may have been part of a scam syndicate and he urged residents to be on the lookout for possible scams in the Fourways area.
