Robbers left a victim with no way to even call for help after they stole his cell phone and badly assaulted him.
The man apparently stopped his truck outside a small shop in Walter Sisulu Street in the Central Business District (CBD). When he returned to his car with the groceries he apparently noticed more than a few young men loitering near his truck. He walked passed them and got into the cabin but before he could close the door the men swarmed him and pulled him out onto the pavement.
Although the 49-year-old man tried to resist and put up a fight he was outnumbered and badly beaten by them. In the process he dropped his cell phone which was scooped up by one of the suspects before they fled. The victim, who wished not to be named, also recalls another suspect threatening him with a knife before fleeing.
He went to the police station to open a case and was assisted by the police to get medical care at the clinic.
He apparently sustained serious injuries including damage to his head and eye. Although he is reluctantly back at work, the victim said he is affected by the injuries.
“I struggle to stay focused, I can’t sleep well anymore,” he said.
“I am very, very angry,” he added thinking back on the ordeal that occurred on June 20 and how it has affected his life.
The police noted an incident last week where three suspects stole cell phones from school children who use them to phone their parents or while playing games. The reason why cell phones are always in such demand by robbers is because of the resale value they have explained Sgt David Ratau.
“They are usually stolen and resold at second hand shops or used to pay off debts by drug addicts. They will go so far as to use a gun in such a robbery.”
Six young men robbing a middle-aged man for one cell phone highlights the extreme circumstances that violent crime usually occur in.
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