robbery – Page 2 – praag.org

Police constable among three arrested hijackers

On Sunday, 8 December 2013 at about 13:45, members of SAPS Camperdown received a report from a cash-in-transit driver waiting at a local supermarket in Camperdown that a suspicious black VW Polo sedan was following them. Police immediately responded and found the suspicious vehicle parked nearby. The members with the assistance of the SAPS Pietermaritzburg Flying Squad and SAPS Pietermaritzburg Organised Crime Unit circulated the vehicle and discovered that it was hijacked in the Ladysmith area in September 2013.

Three (3) male suspects, seated inside the vehicle, were immediately arrested. On searching the vehicle Police found an unlicensed 9mm CZ75 Pistol and 15 live rounds, believed to have been stolen in the Durban Central area March 2009. It is alleged employees in the cash-in-transit vehicle were on a routine collection from Cato Ridge area to Camperdown when they noticed the suspicious vehicle following them. They immediately stopped at the supermarket and contacted the Police. The suspects are aged between 30 and 40-years of age. One of them is believed to be a police constable from Beaufort West. They will make a court appearance in the Camperdown Magistrate’s Court shortly on charges of possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition. They will also be charged at Ladysmith for hijacking and in Durban for theft of a firearm. Investigations are continuing. – praag.org and SAPS media release

Congregation robbed at gunpoint in S. African church

Today, the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Thulani Ntobela expressed his disapproval of the barbaric incident of robbery at a church in Masoyi.

On Friday, 22 November 2013, members of a local church in Mganduzweni Trust in Masoyi near White River gathered for a night prayer.

Just before mid-night, they were accosted and attacked by a gang of four men armed with a pump action short gun. The men commanded the congregants to lie down and robbed them of their personal belongings.

The thugs took some members of the church who parked their cars outside and searched them. It is alleged that they further took other personal belongings, cash and raped a 21-year-old church member.

“This act of lawlessness is not approved and must be condemned”, said General Ntobela.

A call is hereby extended to community members to rally behind the police in their efforts to put the acts of these miscreants to a curl-de-sac.

“A church is a place of worship where congregants gather to pray and it should be respected but these villains had a different ideology.

We need to stop them before they ruthlessly attack other churches,” concluded General Ntobela. – SA Police Service

‘Hush, Madam,’ I am stabbing you

In an ironic mixture of the master-servant code, a black criminal in Ellisras, Transvaal said to his female white victim: “Hush Madam.” At the same time he was stabbing her repeatedly with a home-made knife, according to a report in Beeld.

“It was as if he wanted me to die,” Sandy Troskie, 45, told the newspaper yesterday.

Mrs. Troskie and her husband, Frans, 50, who are owners of the Sitatunga Safaris Lodge, were attacked last Saturday night in their home by four black men. According to them, it was an attempted murder as their assailants were stabbing them with the object of killing them.

The couple were being treated in the Montana Hospital in Pretoria for multiple stab wounds, but were grateful for “having survived”.

Frans Troskie was angry, saying, “If I get hold of them, I will cut off their fingers one by one.”

The attackers only took a cellphone.

Mr. Troskie was watching television with his wife having retired to the bedroom when four black men stormed into their home.

“Only one was wearing a balaklava,” he said. “When I saw the masked man, I knew we had trouble.”

The four black men, armed with machetes and knives, immediately started attacking Mr. Troskie by hitting and stabbing him. Among other injuries, he sustained a hard blow over the head with a machete.

“As I tried to stop one, the other would stab me.”

Mr. Troskie finaly succeeded in kicking one of his attackers and left the house to look for help.

But in the meantime one of the black criminals managed to reach his wife Sandy.

“I heard that there was a lot of noise,” she said. “As I turned round, one of them came for me.”

He started stabbing her in her torso. She tried to prevent the stabbings and so got stabbed in the muscle and sinews of her right hand.

He repeatedly told her in a very calm way: “Hush, Madam.”

Mrs. Troskie gave him a single kick, after which he fell, grabbed her cellphone and ran off.

At this point Frans Troskie and his farmworkers arrived, each armed with a machete too.

The couple said that they were grateful that their two children and their friend had gone to the hunting camp just prior to the attack.

Their 12-year old daughter described the blood in their hom as a scene from a “scary movie”.

So far, the attackers have not been caught.

Black robbers hold up 108 Afrikaner children at gunpoint

Afrikaner child at Hennopspark Laerskool

A group of 108 schoolchildren and 10 teachers from the Hennopspark Primary School in Pretoria were robbed at gunpoint at a lodge in Hazyview on Thursday, said Mpumalanga police.

Colonel Leonard Hlathi said they had been on a school tour when three men armed with a shotgun and two pistols entered their rooms shortly after midnight.

“They said they did not want to harm them, but just wanted their things,” said Hlathi.

The gunmen made off with 14 cellphones, money, an I-pad, laptop and jewellery.

No one was injured in the robbery and no arrests had been made, said Hlathi.

Hennopspark Primary School spokeswoman Anna Alkema said the children involved were Grade seven pupils, who were between the ages of 11 and 13-years-old.

She said they had arrived in Hazyview on Wednesday and were meant to start their tour only on Thursday. Their trip had been cut short and the children were on their way back home.

School principal Jannie Raath said the school was grateful that no one had been harmed.

“We spoke to them and everyone is a little traumatised but they are ok. We have also spoken to the parents,” said Raath. – Sapa

187 S. African policemen arrested for murder, rape, robbery

A total of 187 police officers were arrested over two months this year for crimes including murder, rape, and robbery, the Sunday Times reported.

Between July 8 and August 26, 39 officers were arrested for murder, 14 for rape, 20 for robbery, and 23 for corruption.

The Sunday Times obtained these figures from a document issued by the police’s human resources department earlier this month.

The arrests made during the two months also included nine officers for possession of drugs, and another nine for drunk driving. Eight were arrested for theft and five for assault. Two were arrested for hijacking.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Independent reported that the Gauteng government paid out almost R100 million in civil claims against the police for 2011 and 2012.

In 2012 the number of claims nearly doubled to 1427, from the 652 lodged in 2011.

The figures were given in a parliamentary reply by Gauteng community safety MEC Faith Mazibuko.

Mazibuko said the increase in claims was due to people’s increased awareness of their constitutional rights and certain law firms specialising in such claims. – Sapa

Four killed in East Rand shoot-out

An Ekhurhuleni metro policeman and three robbers died in a shoot-out in Wadeville on Thursday, police said.

Two metro police officers were seriously wounded, said SA Police Service spokeswoman Lt-Col Katlego Mogale.

“It was an attempted robbery. Police were following up on information when the incident took place at 11.40am,” she said.

“Four people were shot dead. One is a police officer and the other three are suspects.”

Four alleged robbers were arrested, and the metro police officers were in a critical condition in hospital.

The men were attempting to rob a scrap metal company, said Mogale.

Police were investigating. – Sapa

Chairman of community policing forum murdered

The chairman of Azaadville’s community policing forum, west of Johannesburg, has been shot dead, Kagiso police said on Thursday.

“Yesterday [Wednesday] at about 1pm a chairperson of the Azaadville Community Policing Forum was robbed and shot in a business robbery at his shop in Chamdor next to Kagiso,” Warrant Officer Solomon Sibiya said in a statement.

Sibiya identified the man as Ishmael Shaik.

Eye witnesses were said to have seen more than six men arriving in two cars.

It was believed four people entered a shop on Jacob Street, Chamdor near Kagiso on Wednesday, and demanded money from the shop owner at gun point, Sibiya said.

“When the deceased resisted he was shot in the head and chest. An undisclosed amount of cash was stolen. The suspects thereafter fled the scene in two vehicles.”

The deceased, believed to be in his thirties, was rushed to the local hospital where he later died.

“One person was arrested and has been taken in for questioning,” Sibiya said.

Police were hunting for 10 people believed to be linked to the robbery and murder. – Sapa

S. African crime stats present a bleak picture

A bleak picture emerged on Thursday from the latest figures on serious crime such as murder, burglary, aggravated robbery, and hijackings. In absolute terms, the number of murders have risen by 4%.

One expert described the 2012/13 crime statistics, released by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa in Pretoria, as “the worst figures seen in 10 years”.

Mthethwa said the number of murders increased by 0.6 percent in the past financial year. However, it was down 16.6 percent over the past four years, and 27.2 percent over the past nine years.

There was also a 6.5 percent increase in attempted murder in the year under review. This was in contrast to the 16.8 percent decline over the past four years and the 51.7 percent decline over the past nine years.

The number of aggravated robberies increased by 1.2 percent over the past financial year, Mthethwa said.

However, there were still 29.7 percent fewer of these crimes than nine years ago and 18.7 percent less than four years ago.

Residential burglaries increased by 3.3 percent in the past financial year, and non-residential burglaries by 1.7 percent over the same period.

In the 2012/13 financial year:

— theft out of motor vehicles increased by 3.6 percent;

— commercial crimes increased by 0.6 percent;

— car hijacking increased by 5.4 percent;

— robbery at residential premises increased by 3.6 percent;

— truck hijacking increased by 14.9 percent;

— drug-related crime increased by 13.5 percent; and

— cases of drunk driving, or driving under the influence of drugs, increased by 1.5 percent.

Raw figures showed that the number of aggravated robberies increased from 101,203 in 2011/12 to 105,888 in the past financial year.

Following Mthethwa’s announcement, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) said the increase in violent crime showed government’s approach to crime was not working.

“After a long period of decreases in serious and violent crime, these are the worst figures we have seen in 10 years,” ISS analyst Gareth Newham said.

“Violence remains unacceptably high and should be treated as a serious crisis which stands in the way of South Africa’s social and economic development.”

Newham said the ISS was concerned by the murder rate, since it declined over the last decade, only to rise again in the last financial year.

“It has grown by 650 cases. This is almost two additional murders per day on average. We need more data on why it has gone up,” he said in a telephonic conference.

He said most car and truck hijackings were linked to crime syndicates.

“This increase suggests weakness in crime intelligence.”

Newham said the increase in aggravated robbery indicated that police were not in control of the situation.

However, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega said crime in South Africa was under control.

“The story of [the SA Police Service] SAPS is a story of assurance and confidence. When I look at the crime situation over a period of nine years, you all see that there is a general decline,” she said.

“We expect this declining trend to continue in the majority of our serious crimes categories. There is no doubt in my mind that the crime situation is under control.”

Presenting the crime statistics, Mthethwa said shoplifting decreased by 3.9 percent over the same period.

There were also decreases in robberies at non-residential premises, by 0.6 percent, in cash-in-transit robberies, by 20.3 percent, and bank robberies, by 80 percent. – Sapa

Two set alight during robbery

Two Chinese women are in critical condition in hospital after robbers poured petrol over them and set them alight in Mahikeng on Sunday.

A Chinese grocer stood helplessly and cried as he watched robbers douse his sister and sister-in-law with petrol and set them on fire.

As the two women screamed and cried, the robbers went around the grocery shop and poured more petrol, razing it to the ground.

One of the women was so badly burnt that she had to be transferred immediately to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.

The grocer, his employees and some customers escaped from the burning shop unscathed.

The police arrived at the scene and found the 40-year-old grocery store owner inconsolable.

Police said the shop-owner was so traumatised, he could hardly speak.

The attack follows on the heels of an attack last week by a group of gun-wielding bogus cops on two businessmen at Bruma Lake, Joburg, raising suspicions that xenophobia was involved.

Cope MPL Ndzipho Kalipa said the group of “policemen” had held up the Pakistani businessmen before.

One man died and another was being treated for gunshot wounds at a Bedfordview hospital.

At 8.30am on Sunday, five men driving a white Jeep Cherokee are believed to have arrived at Carrot King, a fruit and vegetable store in Mahikeng.

Police said the five men were armed and one of them was carrying a container of petrol.

Once inside the store, the men allegedly told everyone to lie down and then robbed them of their belongings.

Two of them accompanied the owner upstairs to the office, where they ordered him to open the safe, while the others remained downstairs.

There was nothing inside the safe – the money had been taken to the bank the previous day.

The men went downstairs and started taking money from the tills, and made off with about R1 000.

It is not known what triggered them to set alight the owner’s 45-year-old sister and 47-year-old sister-in-law.

“This happened in full view of the owner, the employees and the customers. From there they doused the shop. It was totally razed to the ground,” said Sergeant Kelebogile Moilwa of the North West police.

A family friend, who asked not to be named, said the critically injured pair were taken to Mafikeng provincial hospital, where they were stabilised before being transferred to Klerksdorp-Tshepong Hospital.

“Cases of business robbery and arson have been opened. Others will follow later,” Moilwa said. – IOL

Fake police car used in 35 crimes found near Jhb

SA police squad car (this could be a real one)

Police recovered a fake Gauteng flying squad vehicle that may have been used in more than 35 crimes in and around Johannesburg, The Star reported on Friday.

Police received a call on Thursday that a house in Alberton had been robbed. When they arrived on the scene, they drove past a flying squad vehicle, with an unmarked GTI Golf in tow.

Police spoke to the occupants of the flying squad vehicle and even co-ordinated how to track down the robbers.

Lt-Col Katlego Mogale told the newspaper that officers realised by the way the men spoke that they were speaking to impersonators.

The men sped away after realising that they had been discovered and a chase ensued.

The flying squad vehicle went into Glenanda, and was found parked inside a garage. Its four occupants had fled.

The unmarked GTI Golf was lost during the chase which lasted an hour.

According to the newspaper, the vehicle was found at a house which was being rented out. Police would not say whether the owners of the house had anything to do with the crimes.

Mogale said the vehicle was believed to be the same one reported in 35 separate cases of robbery, hijacking and theft.

A police-issued, but unlicensed pair of handguns, a rifle and a bullet proof vest were found in the vehicle. – Sapa

Woman shot by 8 armed blacks in Bronkhorstspruit

Teresa Hammond (43) was shot and one of her guests seriously injured during an attack at her home at 1.30 am on 6 August, reports Sunette Bridges.

Teresa awoke to find 8 armed black men in her bedroom, with a gun against her head in her home in Ekandustria near Bronkhorstspruit. Her husband, Mike, was in hospital where he is being treated for a lung infection and her children, Michelle (13) and Leslie (5) were asleep in their bedrooms.

Hammond’s guests, Derick and Michelle Lidston, where sleeping in the guest room on the ground floor of the house.

“When I awoke at 1.30, there was a gun against my head and I was surrounded by 8 men. One of them was an employee of mine.”

The attackers demanded to know where the safe was and Teresa told them that they didn’t have one or kept any cash in the house. The men then went to fetch her children.

Some of them started searching the house for valuables and Teresa managed to escape to the bottom floor with her children. She ran to the guest room to warn her guests and they pushed a wardrobe in front of the door. She told Derick to get out via the window to look for help.

The attackers broke down the door and shot Teresa through the wardrobe.

“I shot the bitch!” one of them yelled.

Derick jumped out of the window but the attackers waited for him outside. They brutally assaulted him and started dragging him on the tar road.

Teresa managed to hide her children. The attackers fled at 2.15 am with cellphones, wallets and jewelry.

Derick was seriously injured and taken to hospital where he had to undergo surgery.

The Hammonds’ employee, who was involved in the attack, has been taken into custody. The other 7 are still at large. – Sunette Bridges

University of Johannesburg student shot outside campus

Campus of the University of Johannesburg

A student was shot and wounded outside the University of Johannesburg’s Doornfontein campus, the institution said on Wednesday morning.

“The university can confirm that a 30-year-old student has been shot in an attempted robbery outside the campus grounds at the Doornfontein campus,” said UJ spokesman Hermane Esterhuizen.

“The student is in a stable condition in hospital.”

The incident took place at 8:30pm on Tuesday. Esterhuizen said police was investigating.

It is alleged the male student had gone to get something to eat, and on his return was confronted by two men.

Police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Easterhuizen said this incident did not take place on the same campus where a hijacking was reported last week.

On Thursday, a 23-year-old UJ student was hijacked and kidnapped by an armed man while parking her car in the parking lot of the Kingsway campus.

The man approached and pointed a firearm at her, and told her to move over to the passenger seat.

The man drove out of the campus to an empty parking lot where he tied her hands, put her in the boot of the car, and drove to an ATM.

After giving the armed man her bank pin number, he left her in an open area in Eldorado Park, where she was later found.

On Friday, police arrested a man in Ennerdale, south of Johannesburg, in connection with the hijacking and kidnapping.

The 18-year-old man was allegedly found in possession of the hijacked car. – Sapa

McDonald’s restaurant robbed in Randburg

Three men robbed a McDonald’s restaurant in Randburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng police said on Tuesday.

A man held a teller at gunpoint at the fast food restaurant, at the Beyers Naude N1 off-ramp, on Monday evening while two accomplices guarded the door, Captain Lydia Mtila-Dikolomela said.

The three men took cash and ran away. No one was injured and no arrests had been made. – Sapa

Five robbers crash into East London store, steal TVs

Five robbers broke into an East London store by crashing through its security gate with a bakkie, the DispatchOnline reported on Monday.

Eye witnesses told the Eastern Cape publication that the men then went into the Jet Mart store and stole about 10 plasma screen TVs.

The robbery happened on Saturday night near the taxi rank in the city centre.

Red Alert security company operations manager Alistair Bleach said a patrolling officer was sent to the scene when an alarm went off.

“When he got to the store armed suspects started firing shots at him. Seeing that he was outnumbered and with innocent bystanders nearby our officer did not fire back but called for back up,” said Bleach.

No-one was injured.

East London police spokesman Captain Stephen Marais said no arrests had been made. – Sapa