Weekend crime round-up

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

Friday – The driver of a white Mercedes-Benz was robbed of his car in the driveway of his Prince George Avenue home at 05:30.

The victim was leaving for work and had climbed out of the car to close the gate when he was confronted by a man armed with a gun. The gunman told him to not make any noise.

Another hijacker was already seated in the victim’s car and the gunman climbed in and the pair drove off.

• Con artists made off with a woman’s handbag outside a shop along 12th Road in Maryvlei. The incident took place at around 16:00 when the victim was approached by a woman who claimed to work for the store and offered to arrange a pensioners discount for her.

She was persuaded to accompany the ’employee’ to an outside office. Once outside, they were met by two other women, one of whom grabbed the victim’s handbag.

The victim screamed and the ’employee’ ran off while the other two women made their escape in a car. The handbag contained cash, bank cards, a cellphone and other valuables.

• A woman was robbed of her cellphone during a smash-and-grab at the New Kleinfontein Road and Heidelberg roads intersection in Leachville at 18:50.

The victim was waiting at the traffic lights when a thief smashed the passenger side window of her vehicle and grabbed her cellphone from the centre console.

• A TV and a decoder were stolen during a break-in at a home along Station Road.

• A business on Hamilton Street was burgled of a TV, a gas bottle and a two-plate gas stove.

Saturday – An e-hailing driver was robbed of his grey Renault Kwid after picking up two male passengers in Dalpark just after 15:00.

While driving along Lawrence Road, the man seated in the back pointed a knife at the driver and then choked him.

His accomplice in the passenger seat threatened the driver with a gun. The driver managed to escape his attackers who then drove away in his vehicle.

Sunday – A security guard on duty at a business along First Road in Vulcania was robbed of his personal belongings by a lone robber.

The victim had returned to the guard room at around 04:00 after completing a patrol of the premises when he was confronted by the man. The robber threatened the victim with a firearm, searched him and fled with his tablet and R80 in cash.

• A man and his wife were robbed by the occupants of a silver/grey double cab bakkie after stopping at an address along Afrikaner Road in Dalpark at 19:45.

The woman alighted the car in which the couple was travelling to enter a code at a controlled access point when the bakkie pulled up behind them.

The couple was threatened at gunpoint and robbed of their cellphones. The robbers told the victims they do not want their car, but took the vehicle’s keys and fled the scene.

• Three would-be robbers opened fire on security officers when they responded to an alarm at a business along De Kok Street in Vulcania.

The trio gained access to the premises at around 23:30 and rounded up employees on the property. They triggered the alarm while walking around and fled to a veld to watch if the security company would respond.

When no security vehicle arrived, they returned to the premises and broke open the door to a workshop.

They instructed the employees to take out items from the workshop which included a generator and tyres. Security officers arrived and the men opened fire on the security vehicle and fled empty-handed.