Five home robberies in PE within 24 hours

Three people were robbed in their homes in Port Elizabeth during the early hours of yesterday morning. This brings the total number of house robberies in the area between Thursday and yesterday morning to five.

In one incident, an elderly Port Elizabeth couple were held hostage and tied up inside their St Rocco Street home, which is off Old Seaview Road, in Chelsea Downs. The robbery happened on the smallholding at about 2am.

The robbers cut the telephone line in a bid to prevent the couple from calling for help. Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said the couple, in their 70s, had been asleep at the time.

“The 78-year-old man woke to noises inside the house. The next thing there were three men inside the bedroom. The suspects were armed with a knife, screwdriver and knobkierrie , ” she said.

“The couple were threatened and tied up before being ushered into the bathroom. They were then locked in the bathroom while the suspects ransacked the house.”

Janse van Rensburg said when the men fled, the couple had managed to free themselves and call for help. “The items that can be seen missing include a cellphone, jewellery and a firearm. It appears entry was gained by the men lifting up the sliding door.”

In a separate incident about an hour earlier, an 18-year-old student was robbed in his room in a commune in Havelock Street, Central.

“He was sleeping when two men knocked on the door. “He was in a flat on the third floor and it remains unclear how exactly the two suspects got into the building,” Janse van Rensburg said. “When the door was opened the suspects held the student at knifepoint.

Cellphones and laptops were stolen.”

By 7.30am yesterday, police were alerted to another house robbery in Joy Street, Mangold Park. “This incident happened as a domestic worker was arriving for work,” Janse van Rensburg said.

“The home owner opened the gate and then the door. As the domestic worker approached the back of the house to enter, four men jumped her. “She got such a fright that she ran away screaming and shouting. “While this was happening two of the suspects chased the domestic worker while the other two went into the house.

They stole R500 in cash and then fled.” On Thursday morning, two families were attacked in their homes.

One incident occurred in a complex in Montmedy Road, Lorraine, and another in Greece Street, Booysen Park.

No one was injured in the various attacks.