At around midday, a gang of five robbers broke into a house in Forest Town and threatened a domestic worker with a crowbar.
They took jewellery from the owners and were in the process of loading a plasma television into their getaway vehicle when they were interrupted by 24/7 security.
“We were in a meeting when we were notified that there was a robbery in progress,” said Lieutenant Colonel Logan Govender, noting that officers at the station promptly left to assist.
David Baloyi from victim support services explained that the suspects hit the domestic worker with the crowbar before they tied her up. The domestic worker managed to push the panic button twice during the course of the incident. Two other residents and a gardener were also on the premises at the time, but remained unharmed.
According to Geoff Shapiro, general manager at 24/7 Security, one of the foot patrollers from the security company noticed two men loading a television into a Hyundai vehicle in the driveway of the house and immediately called for back-up. “It is possible that multiple alarms were triggered at the same time” said Shapiro.
When the suspects realised that security was on the way, the driver of the getaway vehicle allegedly sped off leaving four members of his gang behind. The remaining perpetrators then dispersed and fled on foot, climbing over walls into neighbouring houses to evade capture.
“We preformed house clearing [of the neighbourhood] and cordoned off Cowie, Sherwood and Rannoch roads,” explained Shapiro,
Two suspects were arrested in the yard of a nearby house, a third suspect was caught attempting to hide in the ceiling loft of that house and the fourth was apprehended on another property.
Police recovered two gold bracelets and a ring from the suspects, no firearms were found in their possession and the driver of the getaway vehicle is still at large.
Shapiro emphasised the tremendous support they received from the police. “The response time was around the five minute mark, they have been phenomenal,” he said.
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