Records of crime
May. 11th, 2007 01:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nairiporterKZN's night of terror
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20070510023024313C196027
Six hijackings, three house break-ins, two vehicle thefts: that was the count of crimes reported in just three hours in Durban's outer west area on Tuesday night.
One of the hijackings left Mercury Editor David Canning with bullet wounds to his arm and thigh when he was accosted by two men outside his Kloof home.
In Pinetown, IFP councillor Esther Bawden was lucky to escape when would-be hijackers fired at her, but missed.
A community policing body said the incidents were indicative of an increase in crime in the region, while police said they had never seen anything like it.
Inspector Anisa Gariba said the hijackings had occurred in a three-hour timespan and within a small area, which led them to believe that a gang had been in operation.
The hijackings took place in Pinetown, Mariannpark, Wyebank and Kloof. All three homes broken into were in the same street in Kloof.
The two vehicle thefts were also committed in close proximity to one another.
"We have had hijackings in the area before, but nothing (on this scale). There is no doubt that it was a gang," said Gariba.
Community Information Centre Development Director Brian Jones said crime had reached unprecedented levels in the Highway area.
On average, one person was taken to hospital every three days because of crime.
He said "there was definitely a shopping list out on Tuesday", indicating that the gang was after specific models of cars.
"This week in particular has been depressing. The list (of crimes) goes on and on. In the past six weeks there has been a definite spike in crime, particularly in armed robberies and house robberies," he said.
On Monday night, a Botha's Hill man was stabbed seven times with a pair of scissors by an intruder who broke in through his padlocked kitchen gate. One of the attacker's thrusts hit the man on the arm, severely damaging his tendons.
The police response to the crimes had been amazing, said Jones. "You always hear about bad policing, but this is certainly not the case here. They have been amazing, but there are so many crimes that they can't keep up," he said, adding that there had been some "good" arrests made recently.
Another hijack victim, Kloof resident David Baker, was dropping off a parcel at a friend's Pinetown home on Tuesday night when two men approached him.
"Two young guys walked up to me and one of them calmly said: 'Hand over your keys.' I heard a click and saw it was a handgun being cocked."
Baker handed over his keys and cellphone to the men, who got into the car and drove off.
"They were so calm. The way he spoke to me, the way they got into the car and started it and the way they drove off - it was all so calm. It seemed to me that they had done this many times before."
He heard several reports of shootings on the officers' radios while his statement was being taken.
Gariba said additional security measures had been put in place in the wake of the incidents.
Units from the surrounding areas and from Durban had been deployed "to saturate the area with police cars" on Wednesday night. A project team involving several police units had been established and officers would be going undercover to gather intelligence.
"We are on top of it," said Gariba.
DA leader John Steenhuisen expressed shock at the attack on Canning, saying it showed that "crime has got entirely out of control in our city".
"When innocent civilians are victimised by criminals while going about their daily business it becomes clear that far more needs to be done in order to bring violent crime under control and to protect our citizens from becoming victims of crime," he said.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20070510023024313C196027
Six hijackings, three house break-ins, two vehicle thefts: that was the count of crimes reported in just three hours in Durban's outer west area on Tuesday night.
One of the hijackings left Mercury Editor David Canning with bullet wounds to his arm and thigh when he was accosted by two men outside his Kloof home.
In Pinetown, IFP councillor Esther Bawden was lucky to escape when would-be hijackers fired at her, but missed.
| The incidents were indicative of an increase in crime in the region |
Inspector Anisa Gariba said the hijackings had occurred in a three-hour timespan and within a small area, which led them to believe that a gang had been in operation.
The hijackings took place in Pinetown, Mariannpark, Wyebank and Kloof. All three homes broken into were in the same street in Kloof.
The two vehicle thefts were also committed in close proximity to one another.
"We have had hijackings in the area before, but nothing (on this scale). There is no doubt that it was a gang," said Gariba.
| 'This week in particular has been depressing' |
On average, one person was taken to hospital every three days because of crime.
He said "there was definitely a shopping list out on Tuesday", indicating that the gang was after specific models of cars.
"This week in particular has been depressing. The list (of crimes) goes on and on. In the past six weeks there has been a definite spike in crime, particularly in armed robberies and house robberies," he said.
On Monday night, a Botha's Hill man was stabbed seven times with a pair of scissors by an intruder who broke in through his padlocked kitchen gate. One of the attacker's thrusts hit the man on the arm, severely damaging his tendons.
The police response to the crimes had been amazing, said Jones. "You always hear about bad policing, but this is certainly not the case here. They have been amazing, but there are so many crimes that they can't keep up," he said, adding that there had been some "good" arrests made recently.
Another hijack victim, Kloof resident David Baker, was dropping off a parcel at a friend's Pinetown home on Tuesday night when two men approached him.
"Two young guys walked up to me and one of them calmly said: 'Hand over your keys.' I heard a click and saw it was a handgun being cocked."
Baker handed over his keys and cellphone to the men, who got into the car and drove off.
"They were so calm. The way he spoke to me, the way they got into the car and started it and the way they drove off - it was all so calm. It seemed to me that they had done this many times before."
He heard several reports of shootings on the officers' radios while his statement was being taken.
Gariba said additional security measures had been put in place in the wake of the incidents.
Units from the surrounding areas and from Durban had been deployed "to saturate the area with police cars" on Wednesday night. A project team involving several police units had been established and officers would be going undercover to gather intelligence.
"We are on top of it," said Gariba.
DA leader John Steenhuisen expressed shock at the attack on Canning, saying it showed that "crime has got entirely out of control in our city".
"When innocent civilians are victimised by criminals while going about their daily business it becomes clear that far more needs to be done in order to bring violent crime under control and to protect our citizens from becoming victims of crime," he said.
