A domestic worker was hurt when jumping through a glass window to try get away from burglars who broke into a Van Riebeeck Park home on Swartberg Street on March 19.
According to Capt Lesibana Molokomme, spokesman for Norkem Park SAPS, the domestic worker was home alone when the criminals managed to break through the kitchen sliding door at about 12.30pm.
“She called her employer, who instructed her to lock herself in the main bedroom, which she did,” Molokomme said.
A few minutes after the woman had locked herself in, she could hear the suspects speak in the house about where to go next and they noticed that the one room was closed and they had not entered it yet.
When they tried to enter the room, they realised the door was locked and tried to kick it down.
“The domestic became scared and decided to jump through the window to escape, in the process cutting her arm open,” Molokomme said.
Luckily, there was a sector vehicle patrolling on the street and the police noticed that something was wrong when they saw “dodgy” movement through the curtain. When they entered the premises to enquire, they found the worker outside the house with her arm bleeding profusely from the cuts she sustained when jumping through the bedroom window.
Unfortunately the suspects had already fled the scene when the police arrived.
This is why Norkem Park SAPS urges residents to make use of the sector vehicle contact numbers for emergency situations.
“Residents must contact the sector vehicle numbers first in emergency situations. We are also asking home owners who have domestic workers at home during the day to ensure their employees have these numbers and use them efficiently in emergency situations.
“We get many cases where domestic workers phone their employers first, instead of the police, and this time wasted makes it difficult for police to catch the perpetrators,” Molokomme said.
The sector vehicle numbers are:
Sector 1 (Birchleigh and Esselen Park): 071-675-6802
071-675-6802/3
Sector 2 ( Birchleigh North and Norkem Park): 071-675-6804071-675-6804/5
Sector 3 (Birch Acres and Chloorkop): 071-675-6806071-675-6806/7
Sector 4 (Van Riebeeck Park, Terenure and Kempton Park West): 071-675-6808071-675-6808/9
