Two robberies in Bay in six hours

A loan shark in Wells Estate was robbed at 8pm on Thursday.

Police spokesman Andre Beetge said four men, two armed with firearms, entered the house in Qodoqodo Street, Wells Estate, and demanded money.

“The men stole money, various bank cards as well as a television. They took the car keys to the Chevrolet Captiva which was parked outside and then drove off,” he said.

“The police were alerted to the robbery a short while later and circulated the vehicle as stolen. By 9pm, members of the Operational Command Centre spotted the car standing in Ngxangosi Street, Motherwell, abandoned.”

Beetge said police patrolling the area spotted the men running in Khonza Street.

“Three men walking in the road spotted the police van and began running away. A chase ensued and as the police members got closer to the suspects, they dropped all the items and ran off.

"A loaded 9mm firearm and a gas gun were found as well as banks cards and some other stolen items,” he said. 

“It was then realised that these were the items stolen in the Wells Estate robbery.”

Forensics have taken the items to assist with identifying the culprits.

Beetge urged loan sharks to take security precautions and not to keep large sums of money on site.

In an unrelated robbery, at about 2:30am on Friday, a woman was held up inside her home in the Eikehof Complex in Heilbron Road, Kabega Park.

“The 39-year-old woman woke to two men standing in her room while shining a torch in her face.

“She was ordered out of bed and told to lie down on the lounge floor while the men ransacked the house,” police spokesman Captain Johan Rheeder said.

“The woman did not see a gun but said that they pressed something against her back which is thought to be a firearm.

“There were two children sleeping in one of the bedrooms but they did not wake up during the incident. The men stole two plasma televisions and cellphones before fleeing.”

Rheeder said they entered the house by breaking a window in the kitchen.

“Once inside, they fled by unlocking the back door,” he said.

No-one was injured in the robberies.