WHITE RIVER – A Heidel Valley family were tied up and robbed by a gang of six thugs on Wednesday just after 21:00. One of the men was armed with a shotgun and none of them wore masks.
The family of three were surprised while watching television, tied with electrical cables and instructed to “go to sleep” by the robbers who proceeded to take their television set, laptop, cellphones, groceries and even the leftovers of that night’s supper.
According to the landlord who the family rent from, the attackers demanded to know from the father where the gun was being kept. They finally accepted his insistences that he did not own a firearm. One of the men allegedly asked the man if the vehicle had a tracking device, which he answered in the affirmative. The thugs did not attempt to steal the vehicle and left on foot.
The woman managed to loosen her hands, after which she untied her son. They sought help from the landlord who lives on the same property.
Bossies Community Justice (BCJ), J&M Security and the SAPS arrived on the scene within minutes. According to Mr Jacques Meiring of BCJ, they tracked the criminals until 03:30 but no arrests were made.
This is the fourth attack in the valley this year. In the majority of the cases they occurred at about 21:00. Earlier in the day, a resident took a cellphone photo of a man who acted suspiciously. He held what seemed to be a shotgun in his left hand.
White River SAPS confirmed on Thursday morning that no case had been opened yet.
Residents of the valley are urged to attend the next Farm Security Meeting on April 16.
Enquiries: Mark Attwood on 083-676-3229
Read about the last attack here.
