Getaway car crashes after house robbery
A DURBAN woman is recovering from shock after armed robbers placed a gun to her head at her Berea home yesterday.
The incident led to a shootout between private security company PT Alarms Tactical Unit and the robbers. One person was arrested.
The woman, who did not want to be named, was with her son at the time. The robbers forced the garage door open and entered the house, where they confronted the mother and son. The men ransacked the home.
PT Alarms spokesperson Dhevan Govindasamy said an armed response officer arrived at the scene and was met by a hail of bullets fired by a robber standing guard on the road.
“The officer took cover in the vehicle and bravely returned fire. A number of bullets hit our vehicle windows and the roof. The robbers got into a white Toyota Etios and reversed out into Stephen Dlamini Road,” Govindasamy said.
The driver lost control of the car and collided into the back of a bakkie and a lamp post on King Dinuzulu ( Berea) Road, at the intersection with Lena Ahrens ( Manning) Road.
Govindasamy said one person was arrested while the others fled.
Some of the items taken in the robbery were found in the car.
“A laptop and TV were recovered in the vehicle. The victims are traumatised but otherwise unharmed,” he said.
Govindasamy said the security officer was also unharmed.
“PT Alarms commends officer Louis for his quick reaction and maintaining courage while under fire,” he said.
He said the occupants of the vehicle had allegedly robbed a man, at gunpoint, of a brush cutter on Oliver Lea Drive in Umbilo earlier in the day. The victim was a gardener.
At that stage, the car had ND registration plates. The robbers later apparently replaced them with NJ plates.
Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said charges of robbery and attempted murder have been opened at Berea SAPS.