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Lente Oosthuizen, 26, survives armed attack, Viviers street, Hartbeespoort Wakes Up to Shock Of Gun Held Against Her Head
Thursday 16 June 2011 By Cynthia Dreyer
In a spate of recent violent crimes, the Hartbeespoort community has been shocked out of the peaceful period of low crime experienced in recent months. A murder, house robbery and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm have all taken place within the past six days. Added to that is the bombing of an ATM near Silkaatsnek on Tuesday night and residents have much to be concerned about.
26-year-old Lente Oosthuizen, daughter of well-known Dries and Barbie Pretorius of Broederstroom and daughter-in-law of another well-known Hartbeespoort family, Jan and Tersia Oosthuizen was fast asleep in one of the 15 units belonging to her in-laws on the corner of Viviers and Monene Streets Schoemansville at around 04:30 on Tuesday.
Her husband was away on business in Mpumalanga at the time when she suddenly woke to feel a gun held to her head and found three robbers in her bedroom. They tied her up with shoelaces while they ransacked the house. They stole her wedding ring valued at R15 000 as well as other items of jewellery, two expensive mountain bikes and a flat screen TV as well as other items and R2 000 in cash from her purse The total value of the stolen goods amounts to around R162 000. The robbers apparently used Lente’s Citroen to transport the stolen goods to a waiting getaway car at the corner of Monene and Baldwin Streets where they left it.
Robbers used Lente’s Citroen to transport goods to waiting car
Jan Oosthuizen, who with wife Tersia also lives in the complex, woke to see the lights of Lente’s car shining and the car being driven off at 05:30 and alerted the Sector One neighbourhood watch who arrived within five minutes. Police removed a glass window pane from the scene and the Citroen to examine them for fingerprints. When Hartbeespoort Police Station Commander Matlala arrived for work and heard about the robbery two hours after the incident, he immediately ordered a cordon and search operation at the informal settlements of Ten Rooms, Popo Molefe and Marius Camps. Although none of the stolen goods were recovered, police arrested six Zimbabweans who were found in possession of stolen goods and burglary equipment. They were also in possession of fishing rods, among other items, and stolen clothing from Pep Stores.
Romano van der Spuy, Chairman of the Hartbeespoort Community Policing Forum says he spent three hours at the scene and arranged for counselling for Lente and her mother-in-law Tersia who were in a state of shock.
Van der Spuy told MadibengPulse to warn homeowners with aluminium window frames to take extra care because the glass panes can easily and noiselessly be removed from frames because the metal is soft and easily prised loose. High walls alone are not a deterrent to criminals because the burglars scaled a section of a two and a half metre high boundary wall. Van der Spuy says he thinks the robbers came from outside Hartbeespoort.
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