White couple, married for 38 years: bound, beaten, traumatised by three armed black men who knew exactly where the secret safe was:
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by Trevor Aingworth -- On August 23 three armed men broke into the couple’s home in Reyno Ridge, Witbank. And besides traumatising the couple, their Boston Terrier also was slapped around. It all started when the power had been off since about 11:00 and the husband, worried about the food in the deep-freeze and fridge, he started up the generator at about 15:00. “I opened the first garage door to let the fumes out, the second door was also opened but not as much,” said the husband. At about 21:00 his wife took her things to the room while there was still light in the house. She returned to the living room, her husband went to make use of the toilet when the robbers broke in. “I heard my wife screaming and ran down the passage to the living room, I saw her lying on the floor, the three of them had knocked her to the ground,” the husband continued. “I tried calling for help on the CPF radio, before I could shout for help they had already taken the radio from me,” the wife said. One of the robbers used a revolver and knocked the husband over the back of the head, he then hit him in the face just below the eye. The robbers had brought cable ties with them and bound the husband and wife. One of the robbers held the husband, who lay on the floor, at gunpoint while the other two dragged the wife by her underarms towards the bedroom where she was to open the safe. “I had the key in my hand and as I was about to open the safe, one robber told me to stop, he said to me he would open the safe,” she said. The robber pushed her aside and she hit her head against the wall. “I wanted to get the gun out of the safe and shoot him in self defence,” she added. The wife’s Boston Terrier at the time tried to attack the robber, the robber slapped the dog causing it to run in fear. The robbers asked the wife if there were any other safes, she replied no, one of the robbers then opened the cupboard door and questioned her about the small safe hidden from sight. In the meantime the husband was able to break free from the first set of cable ties, the gunman bound the husband once again and again the husband managed to break free. “He looked at me and told me I shouldn’t do it (lie) again, he then bound my hands and took my shoelaces, binding my hands for the third time,” added the husband. The wife was drawn back to the living room where she was tossed next to her husband. “We were told to keep quiet as they took our belongings to the garage where they entered,” said the wife.The robbers loaded two flat screen televisions, duvet sets to cover the televisions, tools, tekkies, various remotes and other items into the husband’s Opel Corsa bakkie. “They took our wedding rings right off our fingers, as well as her watch and my Rossi Revolver .38 Special,” the husband added. The robbers lso took the keys to the Hyundai Getz but left the couple with their house keys. They then drove off. The wife got to her feet and made her way to the kitchen to fetch a knife, she returned to the living room and cut her husband free, he in turn released the bonds on his wife. “I called Netcare911 from the landline, they notified the police of what had happened,” said the wife. Within 10 minutes both the paramedics and police had arrived on scene. The man’s open wounds were tended to by paramedics and fingerprints were lifted from the scene.Investigating officer, W/O Pat Makunyane, contacted the Metro Police, believing the robbers would head that way and the bakkie was recovered at a shebeen in Mamelodi. Along with the bakkie, the set of keys for the Hyundai Getz was also recovered. “I just want to thank the police and paramedics for reacting so quickly, and I want to thank Pat for offering to take me to retrieve my bakkie,” said the husband. The couple also wished to thank the Sector Police for their support throughout the ordeal and thank their church members for the concern and support. *The couple’s names are not mentioned at their request.
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(note: a person close to the couple who had very clearly informed the thugs of the whereabouts of the secret safe, was apparently not questioned?)
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http://www.looklocal.co.za/ SAPS area for Randfontein
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