Burglar in headlock for 45mins
2007-01-25 23:19
Pretoria - Quite literally defending his family "tooth and nail", Mark Singery of Willow Park Manor in Pretoria east held on to a robber for nearly an hour, until police arrived.
Singery, 41, was bitten and cut with a sharp object but it didn't stop him from holding the culprit, who was trying to beat a hasty retreat, in a headlock.
His wife, Luitje, also 41, said Mark woke up about 03:00 when he heard the toilet freshener falling to the floor.
"Shortly afterwards, he saw the light of a torch, and, the next moment, a man was standing next to the wardrobes in our bedroom."
"I switched on the lights and my husband tackled the man.
"They fought their way into the toilet, and knocked the bathroom window - with burglar bars and all - right out of its frame."
Hit the panic buttons
"I don't know if the would-be robber was trying to get back out again. We don't know if there were others waiting for him outside."
She said that, during the fight, she hit the panic buttons, and phoned their neighbours to come and help, as well as calling the police.
Singery held the man in a headlock for three-quarters of an hour, while his neighbour helped by twisting the man's arm behind his back.