Highway Armed Robberies October 2013

Blue Security managing director Henk Van Bemmelen said four armed men had opened the property’s driveway gate in Reservoir Road in broad daylight at 12.30pm before holding up the resident, a child and his two domestic workers.
“The armed robbers arrived in a white Audi and held up the resident and his domestic workers. They demanded cash and jewellery but the resident fought the men and was injured. The robbers fled the scene without taking anything,” Van Bemmelen said.
In Hillside Road in Cowies Hill robbers armed with a knife and a screwdriver held up a resident at 7am in the morning. “The robbers had entered the property through a window. They tied up the resident and fled with a laptop, a cellphone, an electronic table, a bag and cash,” Van Bemmelen said.
An armed gang had also targeted a complex in Westville in Palmiet Drive where the main gate had been left open. “The robbers fired a shot and fled the scene without taking anything,” he said.
Van Bemmelen said a fourth incident had taken place in Cherry Road in New Germany where five armed robbers held up staff in a factory and fled with cash.
Van Bemmelen advised residents that the best defense against armed robberies was alertness and an early warning system such as exterior beams and a gate sensor linked to an alarm. He added that criminals also tended to break in to bathrooms and residents should ensure that there were external beams on the wall and that the windows were properly secured.
“Ensure that external beams and cameras as well as electric fences are always activated, even when the family is at home. When you are at home keep all security gates locked and make sure your windows are secured,” Van Bemmelen said. “Providing an early warning system can give you time to go and lock yourself and your family in a safe room where you should have a spare remote panic button and a charged cellphone with enough airtime so that you can alert your security company and call for help,” Van Bemmelen said.
Van Bemmelen urged residents not to physically fight back during home invasions but to co-operated and let them take valuables rather than risk their lives. “The best way to survive an armed robbery unscathed is to co-operate with the attackers, avoid eye contact and if you can, give them the goods they are demanding so that they will leave as quickly as possible,” Van Bemmelen said.