Wounded robbers leave empty-handed after break-in

Four house robberies took place in Nelson Mandela Bay at the weekend.

In one incident, two wouldbe robbers fled empty-handed on Friday night after a woman living in Blue Horizon Bay fired shots at the men, who broke into the Beach Road house.

It happened at about 10pm on Friday when the woman and her fiance, 64, were getting ready to go to bed.

Two men entered the house armed with a screwdriver and a knife and confronted the couple, police spokesperson Warrant Officer Alwin Labans said.

“The man fought with one of the suspects. While [this] was under way, his fiancee ran to the bedroom and locked herself inside.

“She yelled that she had a firearm and she would shoot. One man then yelled that they would kill her,” he said.

“The woman then fired two shots through a door, prompting [one] man to run away.

“The woman came out of the bedroom and saw the scuffle, so she fired another shot.” Labans said the culprits fled. In another incident, at 3.30am on Saturday, another couple were robbed inside their home in Seaview Road, Colleen Glen.

“Two men wearing balaclavas kicked open the kitchen door and confronted a mother, 36, and her husband.

The husband’s hands were bound together with a kitchen cloth while the woman was taken to the bedroom and ordered to open the safe.

The couple had a five-yearold child with them, who was unharmed.

Labans said the intruders had searched for the safe despite the woman telling them they did not have one.

“The men then ransacked the house and stole small items before running away.”

In another incident, at about 10pm on Saturday, two men were robbed while standing in the yard of a house in Boekenhout Road, Algoa Park.

“A 31-year-old man and his cousin were in the front yard when three men approached and pulled out firearms.

They forced the victims into the house at gunpoint and threatened to shoot them.

“The men stole the keys to a VW Polo that was parked outside as well as various other small items [including] the men’s cellphones and wallets.”

At 11.15pm on the same day, a man, 33, was robbed inside a flat in Benjamin Court, Uitenhage Road, Algoa Park.

“The men forced open the door and confronted the man while he was lying on his bed.

“They beat him and stole various small items in the house.”