PE man robbed at knifepoint, pepper-sprayed at dumping site

A man was allegedly robbed at knifepoint and pepper-sprayed by three “helpers” at a dumping site near Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

Walmer police have advised the public to be extra cautious when going to the Arlington tip dumping site to discard their rubbish, as this was not the first robbery reported there.

According to police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg, the most recent robbery occurred on Saturday at 10am when a 56-year-old male was confronted and robbed of his gold chain, and his car keys thrown into the dumping site.

“It is alleged that when the complainant drove into the site, he was approached by three men who offered to assist him. As they were busy offloading the garden rubbish, the complainant got out of the vehicle to see how far they were with the offloading,” said Janse van Rensburg.

“He was allegedly confronted by one of the men who threatened him with a knife. The man scuffled with the suspects and a pepper spray canister fell out of the man’s pocket. The one suspect picked it up and sprayed the complainant with the pepper spray.”

The man screamed for help and ran away. The suspects fled in the direction of the Walmer informal settlement and the complainant was assisted by guards working at the dumpsite.

“The complainant sustained injuries during the scuffle and received medical treatment at the hospital. The suspects only fled with a gold chain that they managed to grab from his neck.”

Police are advising people going to the site to be extra vigilant of their surroundings and not to accept any assistance from anybody.

According to reports of the different robberies, the victims are approached by unknown persons and offered help with unloading their waste. They are lured to an isolated spot where they are held at knifepoint and robbed of cash, cellphones or jewellery.

In other instances, the suspects jump onto the back of the vehicle and direct the driver to an isolated spot, where the driver is then robbed.

The common times are between 11am to 5pm and many cases were reported between Friday and Monday morning.

Police are appealing to people to leave all valuables at home and if possible avoid going alone.

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