Three armed criminals robbed workers at a Glen Marais house in a boomed-off area on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the house owner’s parents, who wished to remain anonymous, the robbers used their vehicle to stop an electric gate from closing while the gardener was attending to the garden outside the gate shortly after noon.
The suspects locked him and the domestic worker in a room in the house before stealing various items.
Kempton Park SAPS spokesperson Capt Jethro Mtshali confirmed the incident.
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“It is alleged that three armed suspects held the gardener, who was working outside, hostage before they broke into the house and stole jewellery, laptops and a firearm which was locked in a safe,” he said.
Mtshali said the suspects escaped in a car, of which the details were unknown.
The parents said the gardener was going about his daily tasks outside the front gate of the house on Vygie Street.
The father said: “He was mowing the lawn outside and saw the suspects’ car drive by but didn’t pay much attention to them.”
He said the gardener’s employers gave him strict instructions to keep the gate closed when he is outside, which he adhered to.
“But as he opened the gate to carry refuse bags into the yard, the robbers forced their car in the way of the closing gate. They pinned him on the lawn at the front door while breaking through the security gates with a crowbar,” said the father.
The domestic worker was ironing inside when she saw the robbers breaking in.
“She yelled to the gardener for help but he was pinned down and the robbers were already inside the house. They locked both in a room,” he said.
Luckily, the suspects didn’t search the gardener and was unaware he still had his cellphone. He phoned the house owner and alerted him of what was happening.
The mother of the house owner said some of the stolen jewellery was family heirlooms.
