Crowbar bandits beat Ben Fleur woman
The burglars caught up with the woman, who had tried to run when she realised they were going to gain entrance to the house, and hit her three times with the crowbar
A woman living in Ben Fleur near Ben Fleur Boulevard barely escaped with her life from an absolutely horrifying encounter with burglars.
On March 7, the woman saw a Volkswagen Polo and Audi pull up to her gate. Within minutes her gate and her front door had been bashed in by a burglar wielding a crowbar.
The burglars caught up with the woman, who had tried to run when she realised they were going to gain entrance to the house, and hit her three times with the crowbar.
Once the woman fell to the floor, the criminals continued kicking her.
“The neighbour who lives just behind the woman’s house heard her screaming once the criminals started assaulting her and called the CPF (community policing forum) for assistance.
The CPF arrived on scene to find the woman beaten and bruised, but not seriously injured. The criminals had tried to steal some items from her home, including her television, but had left them lying scattered in the hallway due to being interrupted by the CPF,” explained Madelon Trotskie, spokeswoman of Witbank CPF, “we would like to thank Quintus Symms and his team for their hard work, and for coming to this woman’s rescue. Who knows what would have happened had the woman’s neighbour not heard her screaming and called the CPF. It’s so easy for a robber to just pull out a knife…”
According to an earlier study completed by the Victims of Crime Survey (VOCS), approximately 4.25% of all South African households are affected by a house breaking annually – with 830 000 incidences of house breaking occurring over the 2017/2018 period.
The same survey found that nearly 32% of items stolen during housebreaking were clothes, followed by cellphones (24%) and food (22%).
House robberies, however, are a different species altogether – only 0.8% of South Africans will be affected by house robbery annually, with 156 000 households hit during the 2017/2018 period.
Residents of Ben Fleur are urged to remain cautious, and to be vigilant of any possible criminal activity.
Those wishing to join the CPF can contact Trotskie on 084 556 4810.
