Six families, three minutes

An armed robbery occurred at a residence on Tana Road in Linden at 6.30pm on 20 June.

Fareed Hoosen, Pexco Security and Training guarding division manager, was first on the scene. “I drove past my friend Hans’ house on my way home from work and saw that they were having a party. Within a minute or so of arriving home, I got a call from him to say there were armed gunmen inside his house. I rushed over, but by the time I got there, the gunmen had left. That’s how quickly the whole thing went down.”

Dutch homeowner Hans Somsen explained that he and his wife Riana had friends over to celebrate the recent sale of Somsen’s garden centre business on Witkoppen Road, and to spend some quality time together before the Somsen family sold their house and moved back to the Netherlands.

There were six families at the party, around 17 adults and 17 children. CCTV footage showed one of the final guests’ cars pulling into the driveway. A white Toyota Avanza is then seen speeding up to and braking hard outside the gate. Three black men, wearing balaclavas and gloves and wielding pistols, jumped out and grabbed the gate before it could close completely. They then forced the gate open, pulled the guests out of the car and made them lie on the driveway, before storming the residence, while the driver of the Avanza continued driving further along the street.

Once inside the house, the gunmen ordered all the children to lie on the ground while they demanded from the guests any small personal items of value, like cellphones, jewellery and watches. Riana Somsen managed to push the panic button.

When the final guests’ car pulled into the driveway, and saw the gate standing wide open with one of the other guests lying on the ground, they quickly reversed and drove a safe distance along the street, before calling the police. Footage showed the gunmen then exiting the property, the getaway vehicle pulling up and the gunmen jumping in, before beating a hasty retreat. The entire incident took no longer than three minutes.

ADT and SAPS arrived on the scene shortly after. A case has been opened with the Linden Police Station. Guests at the party are receiving trauma counselling.

A spokesperson from the Linden Police Station was not immediately available for comment.

Details: Pexco Security and Training, 011 289 4990