BARBERTON – Hi-Tech Security shot and wounded a suspected robber on Wednesday night. This after three armed men broke into a house in Steyn Street and assaulted and robbed the occupants earlier in the evening.
When Hi-Tech arrived on the scene the robbers opened fire on the officers and a shootout ensued.
According to Ms Kitty Lamprecht, she was on her way to the kitchen at about 19:00 when she saw three armed men entering through the front door.
In the house with her were her parents-in-law, husband Hein and his 16-year-old daughter.
Kitty screamed and fled down the hallway towards the master bedroom where the panic button for armed response was situated. Hein was exercising in the room at the time.
Kitty pressed the panic button to alert Hi-Tech. The alarm attached to the house also started sounding.
This made the robber nervous and increased their aggression. Despite the fact that they knew Hi-Tech has been alerted they continued with their criminal actions.
The remaining residents of the household were in the living room.
“Hein burst out of the bedroom on his way to the front of the house, but the criminals intercepted and overpowered him and threw him and his daughter to the floor in the living room,” said Kitty.
One of the suspects remained near the front door to keep watch while the other two went through the house searching for valuables.
They returned to the living room and demanded the key to the bakkie, which was in Hein’s father’s pocket.
“My dad refused to hand over the keys,” said Hein ,“so I went ahead and grabbed the keys from his pocket.”
Hein was then beaten and tied up with an electric cord. The suspects also tied his elderly father up, using Kitty’s laptop’s electric cord.
Before they could tie up Kitty and her daughter Hi-Tech arrived at the house and the suspects opened fire on the security officials in an attempt to escape first from the house and then the yard.
One of the bullets went through the passenger door of the armed-response vehicle, but no one was hit.
Hi-Tech’s officials returned fire and wounded one of the robbers in the stomach.
The three fled down Steyn Street and proceeded to the donga. They took the bakkie’s key, Kitty’s handbag, cellphones and a tablet.
The wounded suspect was apprehended in Boom Street which is adjacent to the donga.
ER24 arrived and the man was stabilised where he was found and taken to Barberton General Hospital.
The other two armed men who got away are still at large.
The wounded suspect was transferred to Rob Ferreira at 22:00. He has been identified as a 32-year-old male of Driekoppies near Malalane.
On Thursday morning Barberton Times spoke to owner of Hi-Tech, Sakkie Dednam. “I am very proud of the way the Hi-Tech armed response officer, Fanus Janse van Rensburg and his partner, Happy Mabuza responded to the scene. After the shoot-out, they first made sure that the residents weren’t harmed before going after the suspects. I am, however, very concerned about the fact that the front door and gate of the house stood open – more so because it was during load-shedding. This gave the villains the opportunity to enter the premises without any hassle. People should be prepared and observant at all times. Kitty did the right thing to press the panic button immediately.”
