Reaction officer overpowered during Homelake business robbery
The perpetrators are said to have fled into a nearby mall where they changed their clothes and threw away the reaction officer's gun into a dustbin at the mall.
A local security company had their hands full recently when one of their reaction officers was overpowered by three robbers while the officer was responding to a crime scene.
This was on September 19 at a business property in Van Riebeeck Street, Homelake.
Mapogo A Mathamaga operations manager Danie Vermeulen said this was one of many incidents they responded to leading up to the long weekend.
“The Mapogo control room received an alarm signal from a local business and armed reaction units were dispatched to the address. Upon arrival, the reaction officer attempted to make contact with the workers of the business and this is when he was overpowered by three robbers. These were the same robbers who had initially entered the store and robbed the workers of an undisclosed amount of money before the arrival of the officer,” said Vermeulen.
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He added that the perpetrators also robbed their officer of his firearm and fled in the direction of a nearby mall in the area.
“We dispatched the Mapogo K9 tactical units and backup armed response units and we closed off all entrance points to the mall. Unfortunately, the perpetrators changed their clothes while fleeing the scene. They also dumped the firearm into a dustbin where it was recovered,” said Vermeulen.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the security company also responded to a house robbery incident on Populier Street, Greenhills.
This was on September 19 and the burglars gained entrance into the property by jumping over the perimeter wall.
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They proceeded to break the window in the lounge and entered the house. One of them held down a female resident and the other two suspects attempted to remove the sound system in the lounge. They, however, managed to escape with one cellphone only.
In a separate incident that occurred on September 20, the security company responded to an incident of burglary on Ward Street in Hectorton. This is where burglars gained entrance into the property by cutting the razor wire and jumping over the perimeter fence.
The one burglar went to break into a caravan on the premises and stole two stretchers and one water urn. Meanwhile, on September 24, the company also responded to a case of theft of a motor on Kingfisher Street in Helikon Park.
It is believed that the perpetrators gained entrance into the property by forcing open the main gate and covering the outside alarm beam with tin foil. The thieves then went on to steal a Toyota Fortuner.
On the same day (September 24), the company also responded to another incident of theft in Sugarbird Street, Eike Park where a suspect was arrested.
According to the information received, the owner of the property noticed that there was a break-in into his tool shed and that various power tools were missing. A tenant on the property was confronted about the incident and he admitted that he was the one who stole the items.
The tenant was arrested by the officers and handed over to the Randfontein police.
