One that didn't get away...

2007-10-07 23:42

Elsje Neethling-Blair

Bloemfontein - A group of Bloemfontein residents joined forces to nab a knife-wielding cellphone thief when he robbed two female students in Dreyer Street, Universitas.

And, says Beryl Flatela, 24, not even the book on self-defence that she'd just read could prepare her for what happened to her and her sister, Yolanda, 21.

The two sisters, both students at the University of the Free State, were held up with a knife and robbed on Friday.

Beryl said: "I've just read a book on self-defence, but when I saw the knife, I forgot everything!"

'He jumped on top of me'

The sisters said they were on their way to class and had turned a corner in Dreyer Street when a young man suddenly appeared in front of them. They said they became uneasy and then a second man appeared.

"He produced a knife and said 'Sorry' - then I ran. I tripped over a stone and he jumped on top of me.

"He held the knife to my throat and took my cellphone. Meanwhile Yolanda was struggling with the other man," Beryl said.

"I thought he was going to kill my sister and I wanted to keep him away from her," Yolanda said.

Bystanders who saw what was happening decided to take the law into their own hands and intervened.

A gardener, Edward Mhlaba, who was working nearby, saw what was happening and abandoned his lawnmower to give chase.

Four students, also on their way to class, dropped their books and also ran after the suspect.

The group were able to flatten the cellphone robber between them, but his accomplice escaped.

Beryl's cellphone was returned to her.

He arrived in his own bakkie

The group took the cellphone thief to the BP service station and waited for the police.

Ivan Coetzee, a builder who had also given chase, said: "I phoned the police and waited for them for half an hour. They said they were coming, but didn't pitch up."

Volksblad's reporter telephoned Shaun Breytenbach of the Park Road police intelligence unit and he arrived in his own bakkie.

Breytenbach tied up the suspect, who told him that he wasn't afraid of the police and loaded him on the back of the bakkie.

With the suspect on the back of the bakkie, Breytenbach and his poodle Snowie took the suspect to the Park Road police station where he was arrested.

- Volksblad