Weekend crime report: Brakpan police reveal latest incidents

The following crimes were reported to Brakpan police over the past weekend:

Friday – A white Mercedes-Benz was stolen from the corner of Victoria Avenue and High Street.

• A woman waiting for a taxi after work was robbed and abducted by the occupants of a black Volkswagen. The victim was standing at the corner of Biggs Avenue and Oval Road in Sherwood Gardens at about 16:25 when the vehicle with three occupants pulled up.

One of the men, seated in the back, pointed a firearm at her and ordered her to get into the vehicle. The men then drove her to the Leachville area. While inside the car, the man sitting next to her demanded access to her banking app and took her cellphone.

She told the men the phone belonged to her child and that she did not know the PIN. They forced her to call her child, who then provided the PIN.

ALSO CHECK: City of Ekurhuleni reveals new property valuation roll and tariffs

The robbers accessed the banking app and completed a cash send transaction. They then drove to a local shopping centre, where they withdrew R1 700. The robbers kept the victim’s cellphone, valued at R3 000, and dropped her off in Daveyton.

• A motorcyclist was tied up and left in a dustbin after being robbed of the bike along New Kleinfontein Road in Leachville at around 20:30.

The victim fell from the bike after driving into rope held across the road by four men. Three of the men then took the victim to an unknown location in Leachville where he was bound and dumped in a bin.

The fourth hijacker left with the victim’s bike, a white Big Boy valued at R23 000. The man was rescued by a passer-by around half an hour later. The victim’s licence, jacket and cellphone were also stolen.

Saturday – A business along Graaf Road in Rand Collieries was burgled of laptops and desktop computers.

• Cables were stolen during a robbery at a business on 11th Road, Vulcania. A gang of armed men gained access to the property at around 02:00 and overpowered a security guard on duty.

The guard was threatened at gunpoint and forced into a building on the premises, where his hands and legs were tied.
The robbers then got to work cutting the cables and fled with seven pieces, with a combined value of about R20 000.

• A food vendor and her customers were robbed at gunpoint in the Mkhancwa informal settlement in Maryvlei.
The incident took place at around 19:50.

The woman, who sells grilled meat and other food, saw a child running towards her stall, followed by eight men wearing black clothing.

ALSO CHECK: Brakpan SAPS operation sees drugs and drunk drivers taken off the streets

Some of them were also wearing masks. The men were armed with guns and instructed the woman and her customers to lie on the ground.

The victims were searched and the woman was robbed of her takings for the day (R400) and a customer was robbed of a cellphone valued at R1 300. One of the robbers fired a shot, but no one was injured.

• Two shots were fired during a robbery at a residence in the Mkhancwa informal settlement in Maryvlei.The resident and two friends were sitting in the yard when, at about 20:15, they were confronted by three armed men.

The gunmen pointed the weapons at the trio and told them to lie down. The resident was then forced inside his home, where one of the robbers fired two shots.

He was searched and robbed of R500 in cash and his cellphone. His friends were also searched, with one robbed of his cellphone and R25 in coins, and the other robbed of his cellphone and wallet. The robbers then fled the scene. No one was injured.

• A laptop and accessories were stolen during a burglary at a home along Hamilton Avenue.

• A vacant property in Northdene Avenue was broken into. Copper pipes, plugs and light switches were stolen.

ALSO CHECK: Saving lives starts with the truth: What you need to know about blood donation

Sunday – A Leachville family were robbed in their Laurel Avenue at about 18:50. The siblings were watching TV while their grandmother was sleeping, when two armed men wearing face masks entered the house, bringing in a younger sibling at gunpoint.

The robbers took five cellphones and gathered the family in the sitting room, and then searched the home. They tied the hands of the two males in the house using shoelaces, claiming they were looking for a man (a tenant at the property) they had been sent to kill.

The robbers forced the victims to remove SIM cards from their phones and made phone calls to someone, asking for the whereabouts of the man they were looking for.

A vehicle later arrived at the house, and all the family members were forced into the grandmother’s bedroom and locked inside.

The robbers took numerous items from the house and outside rooms, including a laptop, TVs, pairs of shoes, a sound system, jackets and bedding.

Once the robbers had fled and no more movement was heard in the house, the family broke down the bedroom door.