Survives: Dave Meterlekamp attacked by 8 armed blacks at Geelhoutvlei Timbers farm: Karatara Knysna:
Dec 3 2014 report in Edge Community News, Page 1
http://www.edgecommunitynews.com/pdf/current.pdf
When Dave Meterlekamp of Geelhoutvlei Timbers was held up at gunpoint in his Karatara home - his chief concern was understandably for the safety of his family. Despite being forced
to hand the group of armed men a huge amount of money as well as numerous electronic goods, he was happy to see the men leave his home without causing any harm. He could not have dreamed
that by the end of the day the perpetrators would be behind bars and all his belongings returned.
According to the police it was at about 5.45am on Saturday 29 November when Meterlekamp (53) came face to face with the armed
men as he stepped out of his home. They demanded that he give them
money, eventually forcing him back into the house where they
instructed him to open his safe. They took a substantial amount of
cash, two laptops and six Samsung cellular phones, and after using
cable ties to render Meterlekamp his wife and kids immobile, they
fled from the scene.
Fortunately Meterlekamp managed to get his hands free and wasted
no time in contacting the police. There’s no denying that the quick
reaction of Knysna detectives, crime prevention unit, Tsitsikamma
dog-unit and public order police members yielded positive results. All
of the area’s exit roads were patrolled and observations set up at
strategic spots, and it wasn’t long before the perpetrators were
brought to book.
The first suspect was arrested after members stopped and searched a
suspicious looking vehicle at the Karatara Road. The car - a black
Opel Corsa bakkie with an Eastern Cape registration number, was
seized and suspect arrested. Another suspicious looking person was
stopped and searched while walking on the Karatara Road. He was
arrested when Police recovered a cellular phone that had been stolen
during the incident as well as a sizeable amount of cash.
A while later a member of the public alerted the police about three
suspicious looking men outside Highland Home Store in Karatara.
The information was followed-up and it led to the arrest of three more
suspects. Two unlicensed firearms, ammunition and an undisclosed
amount of cash were found in their possession. Five cellular phones
were also recovered during these arrests. That evening a 22 year old
man was arrested near Karatara and, early the next morning, two
women aged 28 and 46 were also arrested in Thembalethu. All three
were positively linked to this incident.
Dave Meterlekamp is exceptionally grateful that the ordeal was
brought to closure so swiftly.
“It is due to the very effective surveillance and police work carried out
by our own security, SAPS and the local farming community, that all
those involved were arrested and the stolen goods recovered. If I
were to express my gratitude to every individual involved, it would be
a long list. To name but a few, we are deeply grateful to Col Khan,
Capt Muller, Sgt Kapp, Sgt Solomons and the many other members of
the SAPS team; to Michael Hills, farm security and his team; to my
loyal and trusted employees who were so magnificently responsive
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