THE community rallied to find support for SACan’s communications manager, Lachlan Nicholson, following a robbery at his home in Waterfall last November.
Lachlan, who is a quadriplegic, had a meeting with SACan duty manager, Andreas Mathios, on Friday, 21 November. Brian Powdrell, Lachlan’s cousin, who was with him at the time, opened the driveway gate and walked to his car when he noticed a man supposedly looking for a job enter the property. They said they didn’t have any work for him. The man went up to the car and grabbed the keys from the ignition, warning Lachlan and Brian not to try anything as he just wanted their stuff.
The man left Lachlan in the car and pushed Brian back into the house. Lachlan grabbed his cell phone but the robber saw him and went back to the car to take the cell phone from him. He returned to the house, tied Brian’s hands with shoe laces and demanded money, old valuable coins and gold rings – anything that he could stash in his pants pockets.
“The robber seemed inexperienced, as he kept dropping his knife on the floor while talking on his cell phone. He began to pack up all our cell phones, two laptops and other items when he heard someone entering the yard and then locked me inside the toilet,” said Brian.
Mathios knew something was wrong when Lachlan didn’t arrive for his appointment and decided to pay him a visit. He drove into the yard when he noticed the driveway gates were open and found Lachlan inside the car. When he asked him if he was okay Lachlan told him they were in the process of being robbed.
Mathios immediately called other committee members from SACan, drew out his gun and waited. The robber, who was still inside the house, looked for a way out. He pulled off the burglar guards from the toilet window but was interrupted by Mathios shouting at him. He then jumped over the front fence and bolted. Mathios went inside, freed Brian from the toilet and then gave chase after the robber.
A security guard at a nearby Blue Security hut saw what was happening and called for back-up. Within five minutes there were five Blue Security vehicles on site. They managed to catch and arrested the robber. He was taken to the Brighton Beach police station, where he was identified through an ID parade.
The 21-year-old robber appeared in court. He was denied bail and the case was postponed for trial. He was remanded into custody in the Westville Prison.
Meanwhile, community members, in particular Gillitts Gate and Fence and Security Superstore in Hillcrest, decided to sponsor a motorised automated gate and electric fencing at Lachlan’s house, as well as a security camera to be installed in the future.
“I’m really grateful. I didn’t expect any of this to happen. Andreas was truly upset at what had happened and rallied support from the community to assist me. A huge thank-you to Andreas Mathios and Morné van Zyl from Security Superstore,” said Lachlan.
He added that a lot of positive developments have come from this incident: “Since the robbery I have been training with a senior Taekwondo expert in the province to help me be more self-reliant and able to defend myself as a quadriplegic,” said Lachlan.
