Four house robberies occurred in Nelson Mandela Bay over the past weekend.
In the one incident, two would-be robbers fled empty handed on Friday night after a woman living in Blue Horizon Bay fired shots at the men who broke into her Beach Road house.
The incident happened at about 10pm on Friday night when the woman and her 64-year-old fiancé were getting ready to go to bed.
Police spokeman Warrant Officer Alwin Labans said that two men entered the house armed with a screwdriver and knife and confronted the couple.
“As they entered the house, the man fought with one of the suspects. While the struggle was under way, his fiancé ran to the bedroom and locked herself inside. She yelled that she had a gun and she would shoot them. The one suspect then yelled that they would kill her,” he said.
“The woman then fired two shots through a door prompting the suspect to run away. The woman then came out of the bedroom and saw the scuffle leading her to fire another shot.”
Labans said that the suspects fled on foot. “No one was injured during the attack but the victims were obviously in shock. The suspects are believed to have been on foot and fled into the nearby bush.”
In another incident, at 3.30am on Saturday, another couple were robbed inside their home in Seaview Road home in Colleen Glen.
“Two men wearing balaclavas kicked open the kitchen door and confronted a 36-year-old mother and her husband inside the house. The couple had a five-year-old child with them who was unharmed.
The husband’s hands were bound together with a kitchen cloth while the woman was taken to the bedroom and ordered to open the safe.”
Labans said that the intruders searched for the safe despite the woman telling them they did not have one. “The suspects then ransacked the house and stole small items before running away.
“Once they had fled, the husband was untied and police alerted.”
In another separate attack at about 10pm on Saturday night, two men were robbed while standing in the front yard of a house in Boekenhout Road, Algoa Park.
“A 31-year-old man and his cousin were approached by three men who pulled out firearms. They forced the victims into the house at gunpoint where they threatened to shoot them unless they complied.
“The men stole the keys to a VW Polo which was parked outside as well as various other small items inside the house such as the men’s cellphones and wallets.”
At 11.15pm on the same day, a 33-year-old man was robbed inside his flatlet in Benjamin Court in Uitenhage Road, Algoa Park.
“The men forced open the door and confronted the man while he was lying on his bed. They beat him and stole various small items in the house.”
The two men then fled.
Asked if any of the cases were linked, Labans said that it was being looked into but was unlikely.
Four robbery cases are under investigation and no arrests have been made.