Police boss held at gunpoint

2005-07-31 21:15

Christel Raubenheimer

Johannesburg - The head of the police's crime intelligence unit became the victim of crime last week when he was tied up in his house in Menlo Park, east of Pretoria, and held at gunpoint together with his family.

Four robbers forced divisional commissioner Raymond Lalla into his house on Thursday night and detained him. His wife and two children had already been tied up with plastic cables.

Beeld learned Lalla had apparently been on an official visit to George together with commissioner André Pruis, national deputy commissioner.

Following the visit, Pruis dropped Lalla at home whereafter Lalla came upon the four armed men.

Inspector Anton Breedt, police spokesperson, confirmed the incident.

According to him an alarm went off inside the house during the robbery, chasing off the robbers.

They jumped into a car and fled with several household items.

The incident is not thought to be related to Lalla's work as the commanding officer for crime intelligence.

Anton du Plessis, head of the Institute for Security Studies' crime and justice programme, said he did not think Lalla had been a specific target.

"We know there are high levels of house break-ins, but do not make too much of the fact that Raymond Lalla was robbed.

"They probably did not think of him as the head of crime intelligence," he said.

According to Du Plessis, house break-ins are the crime, after murder, South Africans fear most. People associate house break-ins with other violent crimes such as assault, murder and even rape.

George Fivaz, former commissioner of police who now runs his own private investigation business, is also of the opinion that such an incident is not an indication of an anarchistic situation where police members are specifically targeted.

- Beeld