Yet another house robbery adds to Westville crime crisis

AN elderly couple was robbed in their home on Roger Sishi Road earlier this morning (Friday, 17 July) at 2.20am.

According to Sgt Stephen Clark, communications officer for Westville SAPS, the couple were awoken by the sound of breaking glass at 2.20am.

“They went to investigate and were confronted by three men, two armed with firearms. The couple were forced to return to their bedroom where it is alleged the 63-year-old woman sprayed the one robber with insect poison and he retaliated by striking her with his firearm. The husband then allegedly tried to draw a firearm from his drawer but was stopped and was forced to surrender it to the robbers, who then fled with two laptops, the Ruger .22 pistol and the victim’s car, a VW Polo, ND 27344,” said Clark.

The woman was treated by EMRS paramedics for slight injuries to her forehead. A case of house robbery was opened at Westville SAPS for investigation but no arrests have been made yet.

He added that the SAPS wishes to caution members of the public who go out unprepared to investigate noises late at night rather to secure themselves in a safe place and call 10111 immediately.

Clarke said there is no suspicion that these robbers were the same that were involved in Yashin Bagwandeen’s murder in Berea West on Tuesday as the modus operandi is not the same. Privileged info via crime intelligence also suggests that this is not the same gang. The suspects are still at large.

Whistle-blower

However, Westville CPF chairman, Mike Myers, believes the murder on Tuesday had been a crest of a crime wave in Westville.

Myers blew the whistle on an under-resourced police force with low morale yesterday. He said crime in Westville is at a crisis point and senior management of the Westville police station and cluster need to acknowledge this and present a documented plan to the CPF on how they are going to deal with it.

“The Westville police station is 18 to 20 members below where it should be, and that number includes two senior management who have not been replaced yet,” said Myers.

He added that Westville has experienced an increase in serious and violent crime over the past month and in particular the past two weeks. These crimes include hijackings, house robberies and now the murder. He said he discussed this issue at CPF meetings and had asked that the current commander provide a plan to combat this and bring it under control. But the only commitment they had was police members running extra patrols, where they were able to make a few good arrests related to certain crimes.

After lifting the lid on the situation at the Westville SAPS yesterday, Myers received a response from the Cluster Division, which promised a provide a plan to curb crime in Westville by Monday at the latest. This will be a combined effort by the Cluster Division and the Westville SAPS.

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