In what can be described as a stroke of fortune and a brave fight saw a 75-year-old man fend off a robber and retain his money and personal belongings.
Crime hotspot, Harding Street, was where the elderly man believed he was tailed after he withdrew cash from an automated teller machine (ATM) at about 3.30pm last Tuesday, November 8.
“There was nobody at the ATM and I went straight to it. Only the vendors on the roadside saw me. Someone must have watched me withdraw money and walk towards Victoria Street,” explained the resident who wanted to remain anonymous.
As he walked towards the Victoria Street robot, the gentleman said he had a sense that someone was following him.
“I looked back and saw a guy following me. I looked twice afterwards and when I reached the side street just before the ATM in Victoria Street, I felt someone reach for me from the back,” said the resident.
Within a second, the suspected robber attacked the man from behind, bringing him crashing to the floor. But the elderly man did not give up without a fight. Although injured on both his knees from the fall to the ground, he wrestled with his attacker and prevented him from stealing any of his belongings.
Eventually the attacker punched the elderly man on the side of the face and fled.
“I shouted for help but kept on pulling onto him. He must’ve realised that he was not getting anything from me and left. There were about 30-40 people around there but it was sad that no one helped me,” said the disappointed resident.
In an effort to identify the attacker, who was dressed in a red shirt and khaki pants, the resident followed up the incident with the supermarket close to where the attack happened, the bank where he withdrew cash as well as the police.
“I know I am wasting my time,” he responded when asked about the outcome of each encounter.
The resident has been denied access to closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage as well as opening a case. “It is a sad state of affairs when you cannot walk in town in broad daylight without being robbed. It is also a sad thing that no one offered any help. It seems that the elderly are being targeted and I would like to encourage them to be more vigilant,” concluded the resident.
