Detectives nab intruder after early wake-up call
While preparing for his morning jog on Thursday, an off-duty detective and his neighbouring colleague were forced to undergo a cardio workout of a different kind, nabbing a robber who had broken into a nearby house.
Mount Road cluster detective head Colonel Paul Oranje and gang unit detective Captain Rio Kriel acted instinctively after hearing a noise inside the Loxley Place complex in Brentwood Park, Sherwood – where both officers reside.
Residents likened the incident to a movie scene with shots ringing out, suspects jumping away and police shouting, all before 5am.
The suspects removed a vibracrete slab from the boundary wall, using the gap to climb under the electric fence.
Three hours earlier, another nearby complex also had a boundary wall slab removed.
One suspect was arrested at about 4.30am shortly after Oranje, preparing for his morning jog, heard a strange noise inside the complex.
Jane Blamire, 59, and her mother Brenda Webber, 85, were unaware a gang of robbers was in their home until they heard shots and shouting.
“I was sleeping in my room and my mother was in her room [down the passage].
“I woke when I heard gunshots outside my bedroom window,” Blamire said.
“I looked out the window and then ran to my bedroom.
“As I opened the door I saw a man standing there with a knife in his hand.
“I screamed ‘get out, get out’ and slammed the door.
“At that time, I heard my mother screaming.
“I didn’t know what to do but all I knew was I needed to get to my mother.
“I flung the door open and he was gone.
“I then ran to her room.”
At the same time, off-duty officer Kriel had stormed into the house yelling at the robber who failed to escape.
“We heard Captain Kriel shouting while he was inside.
“By that stage the other officer [Oranje] was chasing after the others who ran away.”
Unbeknown to Blamire at the time, one of the suspects was hiding on the floor behind the kitchen counter with a screwdriver in one hand and a knife in the other.
Webber said she woke when she heard glass breaking, which turned out to be an ornamental plate in the lounge.
“I heard something break and then gunshots,” she said. “I am really traumatised.” Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said after the gunshots, the suspects ran out the back of the unit.
“Kriel managed to corner one of the men, who ran back into the house.
“A scuffle ensued after the suspect was found cowering behind the kitchen counter.”
Naidu said the remaining suspects escaped through the gap in the boundary wall and into the nearby bushes.
“Oranje gave chase after the suspects and called for backup.
“We estimate there were between three and six suspects who managed to escape.”
The bushes were searched, but none of them were found.
Blamire said the two police officers were “superheroes”.
“We do not know what would have happened if it was not for them.
“It all happened so quickly – it was like an action movie.”
Cluster commander MajorGeneral Thembisile Patekile said: “This is a prime example of how we as police officers are always are on-duty.
“These two went above and beyond the call of duty and possibly even saved the lives of the two women.”
The 29-year-old suspect will appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Monday.