An elderly resident was robbed of her purse and cellphone by two teenage girls who preyed on her kindness.
Glen Parnall was walking into her yard, carrying plastic bags when the girls, who she suspects are about 14 years old, approached her from a park opposite her house.
“They were so nice and helped me carry the plastic bags inside the house,” Parnall recollected.
She said the girls indulged her in conversation and even offered to help her bake one day.
The pair told her they were pupils of Claremont High School – which there is no record of in Johannesburg – and were in the middle of writing exams, hence their casual attire.
Although, Parnall said, they were carrying school bags.
One girl had asked Parnell for water to take her medication with, to which she happily obliged.
After taking her pills, the girl then asked to use the toilet.
Parnall suspects that the girl had seen her put her handbag in the bedroom, and therefore saw the opportunity to steal her phone and purse during her alleged toilet visit.
When Parnell noticed that her phone was missing, she locked her gate (with the girls inside and immediately alerted her security provider ADT.
“I pressed the panic button three times… The response officers know me because I’ve had this house for 10 years,” she said.
After being questioned by Parnall and the response officer and threatening to call the police, the girl came forward and admitted to stealing her belongings.
Local car guard Albert Burger said he witnessed the girls being dropped off by a Mercedes-Benz shortly before the incident.
“I thought maybe it was their father who dropped them off,” he said.
Burger found it strange that they were not at school but did not dwell much on it.
“They walked up the road and entered the park, but I don’t know when exactly they approached Mrs Glen,” he added.
Burger, who has been working as a guard on Dover Street for the last six years, is well acquainted with the residents and keeps an eye on suspicious activity.
Parnall did not open a case as her belongings were recovered, but said she wished to warn other residents from falling victim to the innocent-looking girls.
