AN elderly couple fought off two attackers with knob kieries in their home in Bonaero Park on Wednesday, February 26.
They were lucky to escape with only a few bruises.
The man (86) and his wife, who wished to remain anonymous, were in different rooms working on their computers. The man said he heard an unusual noise, thinking it was coming from his wife’s computer.
However, he went to the living room where he saw a man standing in front of their security gate. The man told him that a Mr Willem sent him to cut their lawn.
The elderly man was suspicious. He knew a Willem but this Willem would have contacted him beforehand. He told the man that he cut his own lawn and sent him away.
He watched as the man walked out of the yard. He stayed in the living room, watching cricket for about 20 minutes, when he saw the man coming back. The elderly man asked him what he wanted now.
The intruder replied his boss and his boss’ wife were in the car in front of the house and would like for him to cut the lawn.
The man’s curiosity got the better of him and he went outside to see who these strangers were.
When he got to the end of the veranda, he saw there was no car and knew something was wrong. He ran back to the security gate but another man chased after him.
The elderly man said he heard the other man scream for a friend. He and his attacker started to wrestle for the security gate’s keys.
The man screamed for his wife to call the police, which she immediately did. She then brought her husband a knob kierie.
Right then, another attacker appeared and managed to get the keys. He went into the house but what he found most probably shocked him. The woman came at him with another knob kierie and started beating him.
He fell to the ground, taking a cupboard and its contents with him.
While this was going on, her husband grabbed the first attacker by the throat and tried to choke him. The second attacker got up from the floor and ran away.
The first attacker managed to push the elderly man to the ground and also made his way out of the yard.
The couple called the police again and said they arrived within 10 minutes. The police searched the area for the suspects and took the couple’s statements.
Later, the neighbours came over to see what had happened. They found an open pocket knife on the grass.
The elderly man said it was most likely the first attacker’s knife which got knocked out of his hand when they wrestled.
Police came back to collect the knife to process it for fingerprints.
The husband said he should not have gone out but that he was a curious fellow and wanted to see and thank the people who sent someone to cut his lawn.
Because he only saw one man at first, he felt more at ease.
The woman said her granddaughter now called her “gangster granny” after she had beaten her attacker to the ground.
