Television anchor and producer Doreen Morris opened a case of intimidation against Fidelity ADT security guards this week.
Speaking to News24, Morris said she had felt harassed by two private security guards after she parked her vehicle along Kelvin Drive in Morningside on Monday.
“I had left my house and about a kilometre away I realised there was an email that I needed to attend to. I found a spot where I parked under shade and checked my email.
“A security guard approached me and said I was not allowed to park there. I replied that I was not wrong and I was allowed to park on the side of a public road,” said Morris.
She added that another man then came and asked her to leave his property.”I told the man that I was parked on the side of the road and not on his property. I could have left easily if it was a matter of principle, but I didn’t because I didn’t want to subject myself to being treated like a criminal,” she said.
Ten minutes later, a Fidelity ADT vehicle arrived and the security guard also asked her to leave, but she refused.
“I wanted to park my car under shade where I could attend to my email. I wasn’t disturbing anybody. A few minutes later, a second Fidelity ADT van arrived and the second guard also asked me to leave the place and I refused again.
“I then started taking pictures of the security vehicles which angered one of the guards, who asked me not to take pictures of their cars. The Fidelity ADT guards then blocked the road and prevented my car from leaving and they called the police.”
Morris said they waited an hour-and-a-half for the police to arrive until the owner of the house, which she was parked close to, arrived.
She added that the property owner then asked the guards to photograph her licence disc and registration number.
“The house belongs to one of the prominent people. I managed to locate someone who is close to the owner who advised me to lay criminal charges.”
Morris claimed she had opened harassment charges at Sandton police station.
Sandton police station spokesperson Captain Granville Meyer confirmed to News24 a case of intimidation was under investigation.
No arrests have been made at this stage.
“The complainant alleges that she received messages threatening her,” Meyer said.
In a tweet, Fidelity ADT told Morris to “… please allow us to investigate the situation”.
The company could not be reached for comment. Once received, the story will be updated.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.