Young boy survives attack by adamant thug

A 13-year-old boy was left shaken by an attack by a young knife-wielding thug who attempted to rob him of his BMX bicycle in Polokwane last Thursday evening. The suspect, professing to be the son of an army official, escaped formal arrest after initially being caught by members of the local neighbourhood watch who instantly reacted to a boy’s cries for help.
According to a representative of Fauna and Flora Neighbourhood Watch they found the young victim in Marshall Street begging for help after his bike was taken around 18:00, whereupon he joined as they gave chase. They accosted the thief in the backyard of a property in Suid Street and tied his wrists together with cable ties while waiting for the Police to arrive, which occurred an estimated 40 minutes later. In the meantime the suspect managed to free himself and escaped, it was learnt.
The representative expressed the opinion that the area was daily patrolled between 23:00 and 05:00 and was relatively safe at night, but that the biggest problem was during the day. Hence they were now establishing day patrols in the neighbourhood, he added.
On the scene the visibly traumatised victim related that he had noticed the suspect and a friend at Flora Park Dam in Marshall Street pointing at him as he was on his way to the nearby filling station to have the front tyre of his bicycle inflated. The boy said upon his return home the suspect had called him about a block away from their house but he ignored him, whereupon the thug pulled him off his bicycle. “I fell and pushed him away. He pushed me back. I tripped him and he fell. He took out a knife and flicked it. He said ‘Boy, I will stab you’.” As the attacker indeed attempted to stab him with the sharp object he stepped back, grabbed his bicycle and rushed home where he left it in the backyard.
Shortly after the suspect showed up in their yard, took his bicycle and disappeared with it without taking his cousin’s bicycle in the front part of the property, according to the victim. “I ran after him and grabbed him by the shirt, but he stood up pedalling and I let go of the shirt.” He said he followed, but left without any opportunity to get his bicycle back he shouted for help. At that stage the representatives of Fauna and Flora Neighbourhood Watch came to his rescue.
In conclusion he said he was afraid, but wanted to fight for his bicycle which he got a year ago. The value of his bicycle was estimated at around R4 500.
Community members in the meantime joined the follow-up search that continued late into the evening as the suspicion existed that the suspect was still in the vicinity.
One of the neighbours accounted that he and two friends had engaged the suspect who passed them on the block earlier that evening, with the excuse that people were after him because he had a fight with his brother. The boy had jumped the fences of four properties before he was caught and some 25 minutes later managed to escape, he said.
According to him the suspect, who seemed to have been under the influence of drugs, informed him that he was 18 years of age, stayed at the air force base as his father was an army official and that he attended a local high school.

Story: YOLANDE NEL
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