Alleged house robbers nabbed after chase

Three children in three different houses who were home alone‚ studying for final exams‚ were confronted by robbers in Witbank on Wednesday.

Witbank’s SA Community Crime Watch said on Thursday they first received a call to respond to a house robbery in Highveld Park.

“Our respondents went there but they had just missed the guys. They did however have a description of their vehicle. While they were at the scene‚ trying to calm down the teenager who had been in the house‚ they received a call of another robbery in progress in Modelpark which was reportedly being carried out by the same suspects‚” said SACCW spokesperson Maureen Scheepers.

As they drove to the scene‚ one of the Crime Watch responders saw the suspects’ vehicle driving towards the highway.

“A high speed chase ensued and the suspects took to the N12. They tried to get away but eventually the driver pulled off on the side of the road and decided to make a run for it - but there were too many of us‚” said Scheepers.

All three suspects were apprehended and the stolen goods‚ including television sets‚ cellphones and laptops‚ were recovered.

One of the laptops recovered belonged to a matric pupil who was preparing for her exams. “She actually asked for the laptop back because she wanted to continue studying‚” said Scheepers.

The SACCW said the gang was believed to have hit three houses within 30 minutes.

A 15-year-old boy who had also been home alone when the gang pounced said the robbers walked in and told him to "go to his room and sleep"‚ said Scheepers.

He had seen one of the robbers stuffing a gun in the back pocket of his trousers. It was believed that the suspects had tossed the gun as they made a run for it. “Police are still looking for it‚” Scheepers said.

Last week‚ Stats SA revealed that Witbank was among the 10 worst crime afflicted areas. The city was in the national lead with house burglaries averaging 6.8 a day or 2 476 a year. Additionally more house robberies were reported in Witbank than anywhere else - 4.4 a day or 1 616 a year.

The police insist that the high crime rate is because of the city's "unfortunate positioning".

"The house robbery suspects are people who usually come in from Gauteng using the N4 from Pretoria and the N12 from Johannesburg. They have easy access to Witbank‚" Captain Eddie Hall told TimesLIVE at the time.

According to SACCW‚ the suspects arrested for Wednesday’s crimes are believed to have been from Johannesburg.