Local woman fights attacker off with pepper spray

When a Steiltes woman bought herself pepper spray following news of a robbery at a neighbour’s, she had no idea it would ultimately stop her own attacker and lead to his arrest.

The woman, who would not be named as it is unclear where the attacker currently is, had been surprised by a man entering her garage as she was parking her car just before 20:30 on Thursday May 26.

As the garage door came down, she saw him entering in her rearview mirror. He hid behind the car. She reached for the pepper spray in her handbag. It was the only thing she could think of as she got out of the car, shouting and pressing her finger down on the spray.

ALSO READ: Trial for murder of Lt. Col Leroy Bruwer postponed to July

“He was surprised and did not expect that at all,” said the woman.

The man attacked her. He tried to strangle her, stabbed her just below the sternum and then strangled her again.

“I held my finger down on that pepper spray the entire time,” she said.

She said he stopped attacking her at a point, and she saw him crawling towards the garage door.

“I let him out. I didn’t want to be trapped in there with him anymore,” said the woman.

ALSO READ: Mpumalanga motorists urged to collect driver’s licences

She said she thought the man wanted to rob her.

The attacker ran to a neighbour’s garden, jumped in the pool and attempted to wash the spray from his eyes.

That was when someone in the neighbourhood heard the commotion and alerted Hi-Tech. Guards arrived just after 20:30 and found the suspect in another neighbour’s garden at 21:30.

Hi-Tech’s regional operations manager, Callum mac Pherson, said it was because the man had tried to wash the pepper spray off of him that people were alerted, thus leading to his arrest.

The suspect was handed over to the police, however, whether he has remained in custody or appeared in court is as yet unknown.

ALSO READ: Traditional initiation schools to be conducted this winter

Meanwhile, the woman spent a night in hospital following the attack, but is still recovering from the trauma.

She said she had bought the pepper spray following the robbery and assault on a woman a few houses away from her own home in April.

The woman, who was attacked on April 5, had also been surprised by her attacker. She would also not be named as her attacker has not yet been arrested.

She had come home from work for lunch at 13:00 and had left the gate of her back door open to let her cats out while she started making a sandwich, when the man appeared.

This attack saw the woman being tied up, slapped, and stabbed in the hand. Several valuables were stolen, including her bank cards and car. Her vehicle was found abandoned the next day.

Lowvelder had sent a media query to the police on May 31 and a follow-up query on June 7, however, no response was received by the time of going to press.