NATIONAL NEWS - "I see you have a nice baby.”
These were the words of an armed house robber who, along with five others, invaded a Glen Marais residence around 1pm last Thursday.
The suspects, all armed with hand guns, first approached two builders building perimeter walls at the property. The family only recently moved into the newly built property.
The owner, his wife and their seven-week-old baby were inside the house when the men struck. The domestic worker was doing laundry in the open garage.
The domestic worker told Express that one builder was hit on the back of his head with a gun by a suspect, while the other ran away. The robbers entered the house through the open garage door.
Inside the house, at the foot of the stairs, the domestic worker was hit on the face.
“They told us to look down, and not at their faces,” she said, as she and the one builder were forced inside the house.
The couple and their baby were upstairs when the suspects entered. The owner said the robbers were inside their bedroom within five minutes.
“I attempted to escape to look for help by jumping off the balcony. When I got outside, the robber in the getaway car stopped me with his firearm pointed at me, and escorted me back to where everyone was held up in the bedroom,” he said.
The owner said following his attempt to escape, one of the men made a remark about his baby: “I see you have a nice baby.”
The father said he saw the remark as a threat to his child.
He said he complied with the suspect’s instructions, and within 15 minutes they had stolen their belongings, including four laptops, jewellery and cash.
“I’m surprised how quickly multiple security companies and the police reacted. They got here within five minutes of my call which I made once the suspects had left.”
Capt Jethro Mtshali, spokesperson for Kempton Park SAPS, confirmed the police were called to the scene.
“It is alleged the suspects robbed them of laptops, jewellery and an undisclosed amount of cash, and left the scene in a charcoal Opel vehicle,” Mtshali said.
This robbery had a similar modus operandi to that of another house robbery two weeks ago, also in Glen Marais.
CCTV footage of the suspects’ vehicle which the police confirmed is a charcoal-coloured Opel sedan. The registration number is false.
On that occasion, three armed criminals had invaded another property in the area on February 11, after attacking workers of the property, and locking them up in a room inside the house. These criminals escaped after allegedly stealing laptops and jewellery.
