Arrest after armed robbery
Businessman ambushed and beaten up
POLICE believe they have made a breakthrough in an ongoing investigation into the sudden wave of robberies targeting Chinese nationals with the arrest of a suspect during an armed robbery at a Dorchester Heights home yesterday.
A 31-year-old suspect was arrested following a heavy exchange of gunfire between private security firm guards and five armed suspects.
According to police the suspect was left behind by his gang members who managed to flee the scene in their vehicle having stolen cash as well as foreign currency, cellphone, passport and the ID book of the owner of the home, a Chinese national.
Cambridge police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said the suspect was arrested hiding out in the nearby bush.
A 9mm pistol with ammunition was recovered from him. “Cellphone, cash, ID, passport and a driver’s licence were also recovered,” added Mbi, who said the arrest followed a thorough police search of the scene.
The incident, which took place in Heathcliff Road in the East London suburb, is the latest in a spate of robberies of upmarket homes owned by the foreign businessmen in and around East London.
Between January and yesterday, 18 cases of house robberies had been opened by members of the Eastern Cape Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Liaison Association, a business association representing mainly traders of Chinese descent.
Mbi said the owner of the home was ambushed by the gang in his driveway and forced back inside his home at gunpoint and beaten up.
“They started beating him up, ransacked the house and demanded money.”
Reporters tracked down 57-year-old Baeei Liu and his wife Linda Liu, 55 who were both still in shock.
Linda, speaking on behalf of Baeei, who cannot speak English, said the thieves had made their lives a living hell.
“They took our bank cards, identity books, passports and now we must start from scratch. We can’t talk any further about this, it is with the police now,” she said.
The couple own a clothing store in Chinatown in the city centre, said Liu.
Mbi said during the ordeal, the injured but vigilant Baeei Liu managed to press a panic button attracting a response from a private security firm.
Mdantsane police cluster deputy commander Brigadier Marinda Mills said: “This is indeed a breakthrough in cases of this nature where suspects were targeting Chinese nationals. Our detectives will work around the clock to arrest the other fleeing suspects.”
The breakthrough comes nine days after high level crisis talks between the Chinese, Buffalo City Metro mayor Xola Pakati and police top brass which included East London cluster commander Major-General Lungile Nqamqele. —