What was meant to be a quick trip to buy a few items after a doctor’s appointment turned into a violent nightmare for Yvonne Beckenridge (80).
After visiting the doctor, Beckenridge wanted a few small items and decided to buy them at Pick n Pay in Flora Centre. Since she usually shops elsewhere she was confused about the layout of the shop and took a few minutes longer than usual to find her items. She remembers that a friendly man handed her a shopping basket and that she paid for the items, left the building and declined the car guard’s offer to carry her light parcel. The idea that she was being followed never crossed her mind. Once arriving at the gate of her home in Florida Hills, Beckenridge opened the electric gate and immediately afterwards opened the garage door to park her vehicle.
“I parked and got out of my vehicle, slung my bag over my shoulder and was fiddling with the keys to the door when a figure came from nowhere, pushed me against the wall and violently covered my mouth.”
Beckenridge was forced against one of the garage walls when the robber, holding her mouth shut, violently tried to rip golden rings from her hands. When he couldn’t loosen the rings to take them off, he used his teeth to brutally remove them. Beckenridge consulted a doctor afterwards and got stitches to one finger, with another finger sustaining a deep cut. Her arms still were bruised from the attack when she spoke to the Record.
“Some of those rings were heirlooms, and I had planned to pass them on to my daughters one day,” a devastated Beckenridge said.
A necklace bearing a golden cross with a diamond in the centre also was ripped from her neck, and her handbag was taken.
The Beckenridge couple and their children later contacted Apcan Security as well as the sector police, with whom they opened a case of robbery. Yvonne had assisted Pick n Pay in identifying the friendly man on their CCTV footage that she believes had followed her home that day. She couldn’t give details about further suspects.
“We later realised that there were about four of them – one had been robbing me while another struggled with my house keys, a third had scanned my vehicle for valuables and a fourth sat outside in a getaway car. I saw the vehicle drive off, it was grey or silver.”
Around R90 000 worth of valuables were lost during the robbery, and Yvonne had to stop her bank cards and apply for a new licence card and ID.
“I wish to warn other residents, especially elderly folk, to be very wary when they shop in Florida,” says Beckenridge.
“We are prime targets, we are vulnerable and I saw on the CCTV footage that many elderly residents shop in Flora Centre. Beware.”
Pick n Pay Flora Center manager Pesalema Mosia confirmed that they had allowed Beckenridge to view CCTV footage on the premises.
“If anyone suspected of any crime is identified here, whether on the footage or in person, the police will be notified.”
Mosia said that the police had not contacted them regarding the footage of the suspects yet.
