What started as a normal Friday at work turned into a living nightmare for the employees of a local security firm after a group of armed suspects robbed them on February 10.
“I was busy assisting one of our customers with their order when a man pushed the customer aside and aimed a firearm at me,” explained Erich Swanepoel, stock manager at Eagleview Security. He goes on to explain that they waited until the business was quiet before coming in and robbing them.
“They drove their truck and a car into our business’ yard at around 12:15 and then entered the building.
“The men, we believe they were 10 in total – eight who came in and robbed us and two who were the lookouts – threatened us with their firearms and one of them jumped into my window where I handle the stock, tackled me, and then tied my hands while forcing my colleague to start loading our higher value stock into their truck,” exclaimed Swanepoel.
Fortunately, the customer who was pushed aside was able to get out of the building while the suspects were focused on the employees, “he went straight to his car where his colleague was waiting, and called the police. At first, they didn’t believe him but he kept insisting that they come to our business because there was a robbery in progress.”
According to Swanepoel, the police arrived on the scene around 12:35 and the suspects fled, climbing over the property’s fence and running.
“They left the truck filled with almost half a million rand of our stock inside and just fled with our wallets, petty cash from the cash box, jewellery, and cellphones,” he added that they begged the police officers who attended the scene to leave their stock as this is their ‘bread and butter’.
“We were then asked to keep the truck on our premises until the police could tow it away – this just didn’t seem like it should have happened. What if the robbers came back? In fear of another robbery attempt, we hired a group of armed security officers to look after the premises and the suspects’ truck – this was an additional expense that we were not prepared for.”
Swanepoel stated the police arrived around 22:30 to tow the truck.
“One of the things that bothered me is that when they caught two of the suspects they [the police] approached my wife [who was present during the armed robbery as she is the business manager] and asked her to identify them. Right there in front of the business where they could see her acknowledging that they were part of the ‘crew’ who robbed us,” he added.
“This was such a traumatic experience for all of us, we have installed an even sturdier security system and had to replace everything they stole – luckily they didn’t get away with our stock.”
He mentioned that what worries him is the fact that the suspects knew what and where the high-value stock was and that the suspects’ faces looked familiar like they had been there before.
“We have a wonderful security surveillance system and were able to capture the whole incident on video.”
Captain Juanita-Anne Yorke, the spokesperson for the Roodepoort police, stated upon mentioning the various comments made by Swanepoel that she will follow up with the investigating officer and inform them of the videotape as well as any additional concerns from the victims of this crime.
“We are not at liberty to divulge any more information as this is an ongoing investigation and doing so might disrupt the court case,” Yorke concluded.
READ MORE: Four suspects nabbed after business robbery
The police urge anyone with any information about this case to contact them on their Crime Stop Tip Off Hotline 08600 1011 or download the MySAPS app on their phone and relay the anonymous tip-off.
