'I saw pangas in the window'
2008-05-22 07:26
Pretoria - An engineering student at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) was kicked and hit in his back and chest during an armed robbery when he jumped in between four attackers and his dog in order to save it.
CJ Swanepoel, 22, who lived in the Brookdale security complex in the Rietvlei security complex in Pretoria, was attacked at his rented home on Saturday at about 21:45.
The robbers, who were armed with pangas, broke his bedroom window to gain access to the house.
CJ said: Arnold, my German Schnauzer, and I were asleep when I heard a crash.
"When I looked up, I just saw pangas through the curtains. I jumped up and shoved the first guy out of the room through the window.
"I grabbed Arnold, ran out of the room and tried to lock the door, but I was too slow."
The robbers managed to open the door, grabbed him and threw him on the ground.
Threatened to shoot
He said only one of them had been wearing a balaclava.
"The whole time he said, 'If you look at me, I will kill you' ".
The robbers put computers, a laptop, a sound system and several other valuable items in the kitchen before they dragged CJ to the lounge.
"When Arnold started barking loudly, they wanted to kick him and then I jumped in between them. They kicked and hit me in the back and chest.
"I asked them to give me a chance to calm Arnold down and I pressed him tightly to my chest."
The robbers loaded the stolen goods into CJ's dark blue Fiat Uno with registration number ND 248 852.
"Just before they drove off, they tied my hands behind my back with telephone cable and locked me in the bathroom."
CJ freed himself, climbed through the bathroom window and ran to the security gate, about a kilometre from his house.
"When I asked the guard if he had seen the robbers who drove off in my car, he said he had thought it had been me in the car."