Easter Home Invasions: Lockdown Long weekend No Deterrent to Armed Robbers

The Coronavirus Lockdown and Easter weekend has not deterred criminals in targeting homes in Durban. Residents are advised to constantly remain alert while at home and to test or improve their security arrangements during this period, so as to remain safe.
This advisory from Blue Security Tactical Ambassador for Umbilo and Durban North, Darrel Moodley, follows a spate of home invasions, housebreakings and some successful arrests in and around Durban during the Easter weekend. “Robberies are also being taken to the next level with victims being forced to provide digital information required for online cash transactions,” Moodley said. “On Easter Sunday a couple was tied up and threatened at knife and gunpoint, in their home in La Lucia, robbed of valuables and forced to divulge bank account information to their attackers,” Moodley said.
“The incident occurred when five men entered the property, one armed with a gun, the others with knives. After tying the couple up in one of the bedrooms, the suspects ransacked the house. “The suspects also forced the resident to do a cellphone transfer of R20 000 to a banking account provided by the suspects,” Moodley said. “The suspects fled on foot with the stolen goods, using the main-gate remote to exit the premises.
A knife, used by one of the suspects, was left behind in the bedroom. No shots were fired and no-one was injured in the incident,” Moodley said. Durban North SAPS attended the crime scene and were later successful in apprehending and arresting the suspects, still in possession of the stolen items, in a roadblock.
In a separate incident in Escombe on Easter Saturday, armed suspects threatened a couple and their baby before ransacking and robbing their home. “The couple was at home when they noticed two men on the property, who then proceeded to hold them up at knifepoint before marshalling them into the bedroom and tying up the husband with computer cable,” Blue Security Tactical Ambassador for Moseley and Queensburgh, Andre Engels said.
The mother and her infant were not tied up, but instructed to remain seated throughout the incident. After ransacking the home, the suspects fled with two cellphones, jewellery, a nappy bag and a brush cutter. “It is thought that the suspects gained access to the property by jumping over the back fence before walking through the front door which had been left open. They escaped on foot into the bush at the rear of the property,” Engels said. Fortunately the victims were not injured in the incident and declined the offer of trauma counselling. Malvern SAPS attended the scene. No arrests related to this incident have been reported.
“Durban residents need to be extra vigilant when relaxing at home and to ensure that boundaries are monitored by effective alarm systems,” Engels said. “Alert neighbours, armed response service providers and the nearest SAPS branch should suspicious activity be observed,” Engels said.