Stopped in their tracks
Robbery victim’s swift action leads to arrests
I travel this road a lot and the patrol vehicles aren’t usually there
A FATHER’S persistence and a bizarre series of coincidences have helped the police arrest an armed gang of robbers – just moments after they allegedly targeted his house for the second time.
The breakthrough came yesterday morning when Shane Boucher, 34, received a frantic call from his father, who told him that his home in Rensburg, Heidelberg, had been burgled.
The robbery happened while the father-of-three was at work.
As he rushed home, Boucher knew he had to be on high alert. The memory of his house being cleaned out just two months ago while he, his wife and three children slept still haunted him.
All the family’s valuable electronic items – including TVs, his stereo system, computers and tablets – were stolen. A neighbour had told him that the gang of four had apparently loaded the goods into a blue VW Caravelle.
Yesterday, a few minutes before Boucher arrived home, he noticed a blue Caravelle driving past him. His children and wife weren’t home and he immediately thought of his mother and domestic worker, who also lived on the premises.
When Boucher got to his house, there was a hive of activity, with the neighbourhood’s security vehicles surrounding his home. As he got out of his car, his neighbour screamed that the alleged robbers had just fled in a blue Kombi.
Boucher sprang into action, chasing after the gang in his car. But a short while later, he appeared to reach a dead end as he came to a fork in the road, which posed a dilemma. Depending on his choice, there was a chance the robbers would escape. Boucher opted to turn right, which proved to be the correct decision.
About 2km down the road, he caught up with the Kombi, which was heading towards the N3 highway. But then he knew he needed to make sure the suspects didn’t notice him. He used his knowledge of the small town’s road network and made occasional turns to fool his target.
Just before the robbers reached the highway, he contacted a friend at a police station, who phoned the Flying Squad.
In the meantime, Boucher followed the Caravelle for several kilometres. A short while later, he spotted a Flying Squad patrol vehicle on the side of the N3 highway near the Heidelberg off-ramp.
“I travel this road a lot and they (patrol vehicles) aren’t usually there,” he said.
Boucher quickly pulled over and explained to the Flying Squad officers that the car travelling down the highway had just robbed his house. The police followed the robbers and ensured they weren’t aware they were being tailed.
The Flying Squad organised a roadblock near the Grey Avenue turn-off and the men were apprehended. Inside the Kombi, the police found Boucher’s flatscreen TVs, his stereo system, computers and tablets.
They also found something unusual, said Alberton police spokesman Sergeant Frank Nkuna. A substance that looked like muti was smouldering inside the vehicle.
Nkuna said it was possible that the suspects used the substance to make their victims sleep.
But he couldn’t explain how burning the muti inside the vehicle wouldn’t make the driver and his passengers fall asleep.
Boucher believed that if the muti was put in his home’s air vents, it would explain why he, his wife and children – all light sleepers – didn’t wake up on the night of the first robbery.
The suspects were due to appear in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court today.
“I’m just glad no one got hurt,” Boucher said. “The Flying Squad and the Germiston police were excellent.”