Elderly couple robbed in broad daylight

An unsuspecting resident on Van Schalkwyk Street was robbed in broad daylight on Monday, June 22.

The elderly resident was cleaning the pavement in front of her house at around 2pm and had left her front gate slightly open. Her husband, who was in the house at the time, heard the couple’s 15-year-old Yorkshire Terrier barking in an unusually aggressive manner and went to investigate.

Upon entering the living room, he encountered well-dressed man walking out of his house. Demanding to know what the man was doing in his house, the reply he received was a calm “I’m looking for accommodation.” According to the victims, the suspect was barely in the house for three minutes.

“He was calm, too calm. It didn’t occur to me at the time that he might have done something. He was well-spoken and fluent; it caught me off guard,” said the husband.

The woman, hearing her husband’s raised voice, returned to the house to see what was going on. When she heard the man was looking for accommodation she walked him to the gate and pointed him in the direction of a house down the road she knew was up for rent.

Shaken by the incident, the resident went to her neighbour’s house to warn her not to leave her gate open. Her neighbour warned her to check if anything was missing. Realising she had not checked before she left, she hurried home only to find her cellphone and R 1 500 missing from her handbag.

She immediately called the police. “If they had come immediately, they would have been able to catch him,” she said. “But they only arrived at around 5pm.”

Warrant Officer Simon Luthuli said the control room had only received the call at 4.45pm. The call was relayed to officials at 4.49pm and they arrived on the scene at 4.59pm.

“It is unfortunate that the criminal escaped, but this is what our records show.”

The couple maintain the call was made to the police much earlier than that, and allege the problem lies within the control room.

Investigation continues.

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