Gardener locks himself and homeowner in house during robbery

A quick-thinking gardener locked himself and his employer’s wife in the house when he realised his employer was being robbed in the garage of his Birchleigh home, in Kempton Park, on Tuesday, reports the Kempton Express.

This gave the woman the opportunity to press the panic button to alert their security company to the armed robbery.

Captain Lesibana Molokomme, spokesperson for Norkem Park police, said two of the three suspects were arrested following the incident. The third was still at large.

Molokomme said two sector managers, Warrant Officer Shaun Pennels and Sergeant Barbara Ferreira, in conjunction with MML Security, Black Cops and community policing forum patrollers, responded to the complaint of an armed robbery at a house on Leslie Street in Birchleigh.

Upon arrival, they found the suspects had already left the scene. The victim, 68, showed officers the direction in which the men had disappeared. Two suspects were spotted along Koedoe Street.

When the suspects noticed they were being followed, they started running towards Essenwood Street. They were cornered and arrested. They were in possession of an unlicensed firearm with the serial number filed off and one live round of ammunition. The police also recovered a wristwatch, which was identified by the victim as his, Molokomme said.

The victim was polishing his car in the garage at around noon when the three men approached him after jumping over the wall.

One of the suspects pointed a firearm at the man and ordered him not to make any noise.

“The victim shouted at his gardener, who was working in the yard. As the gardener realised his employer was under attack, he rushed into the house and locked himself and the victim’s wife, who was in the house, inside.

“It is believed the same suspects shot and killed a dog at a house on Olifant Street, also in Birchleigh, when they escaped from the scene,” Molokomme said.

The two suspects, aged 30 and 35, will face charges of armed robbery, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and malicious damage to property relating to the shooting of the dog.

The unlicensed firearm and bullet found on the suspects. Picture: Norkem Park police

– Caxton News Service

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