Townhouses see increase in burglaries and robberies
HONEYDEW RIDGE – Resident is concerned about the increase of robberies at his complex.
As the year begins, criminals are also back to their activities. Modise Ntuli of Honeydew Ridge, who lives in a townhouse complex, mentioned that they are terrorised by armed robbers. “We are no longer safe. In a space of a week we have already had seven robberies and in some cases residents were assaulted by these criminals.”
Ntuli said if the police had more patrols in all the suburbs, especially in the evening and early hours of the morning, criminals wouldn’t get a chance to do their bad deeds.
Spokesperson for Honeydew Police Warrant Officer Karen Jacobs confirmed that they were seeing a bit of an increase in housebreaking and robberies at townhouse complexes. “It’s been very quiet over the past few weeks but now suddenly we receive more reports of violent robberies.”
She also highlighted that townhouses seemed to be the main target for robberies. She appealed to residents to ensure that they have adequate security at their units, especially at sliding doors.
“If you have sliding doors ensure that you install extra locks or ‘dead’ bolts, as well as security gates so that it makes it more difficult to gain access through these doors,” added Jacobs.
Residents are urged not to go outside alone in the early hours especially between 2am and 5am, as incidents have been reported where residents were attacked or targeted during these hours while they went out for things like smoking.
Police urge residents to be crime-prevention aware at all times. “Do not leave any doors open while busy in the unit and close all windows when going to bed,” WO Jacobs added. Another precautionary measure she advises residents to do is to remove all keys from the doors and gates.
Details:Honeydew Police operational room 011 801 8613/4/5.
