A REIGN of terror by brazen gangs that break into houses while tenants are home has rattled Port Alfred residents.Not even dogs, hi-tech security or police patrols and armed response have deterred the gangs as they rob up to three houses a night – while the occupants are sleeping.
UNDER SIEGE: Bokke du Toit, who said 14 break-ins in a year have given him sleepless nights in the picturesque resort of Port Alfred. Picture: DAVID MACGREGOR
A family reunion with Danish relatives in the seaside resort turned to terror when Carol Schmidt battled to hold a sliding door closed while three gang members tried to prise it open from the outside.Woken at 3am by his wife’s frantic screams, not even the sight of Paul Schmidt and the family’s Labrador put the gang off.
“I feared for my life and screamed louder than the alarm siren, but they were not scared,” Carol Schmidt explained.
One thug forced the door open and grappled with Paul several times before making off with a laptop.
“He would not give up … he really wanted the laptop. When I grabbed him he dropped it, but got away and grabbed it again.” The struggle spilled onto a verandah and Paul pushed the man into a concrete braai – which broke – before he escaped.
Paul gave up hope of retrieving his laptop when one of the two accomplices “watching from the front gate came towards me pointing a knife or screwdriver”.
Paul’s Danish sisters, Bierthe Pedersen, 60, and Margit Mikkelsen, 56, and their husbands were so rattled by the attack that they decided to cut short their reunion and just hours later headed back to East London.
Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said the burglaries had escalated in recent weeks and the gangs had become “so brazen that dogs and security mean nothing to them”.
“They are targeting laptops and cellphones,” he said. “They watch houses during the day and then rob them at night when people are fast asleep.”
Although police have increased nightly patrols and work closely with local security companies, up to three break-ins are happening a shift.
After 14 break-ins in a year – 10 while they were home – Bokke du Toit said he is afraid to leave partner Terri Harrewyn alone, especially after dark.
“We do not sleep properly at night and have spent thousands on security beams and bars but it does not help. Having three big dogs also makes little difference.”
The gangs have removed “whole windows” four times, grappled through burglar bars with visitors for their handbags and cellphones twice, and even tried to break in to one house twice in one night – while eight adults were sleeping inside.
“They are very selective and only go for valuable stuff like label clothing, liquor, Persian carpets, silverware and cellphones.”
Security company director Clinton Millard said his company had handled more than 19 break-ins and at least 15 attempts this month.
One gang of three stood on each others’ shoulders to access an open window on the second floor of a house, said Millard. Then the brazen group cheekily waved at the homeowner after they were surprised trying to get in.
“Sometimes there are three gangs working a night. If they can’t get into a house, they try the one next door.”
Millard said it was suspected that a lot of the goods were ending up in Grahamstown. - By DAVID MACGREGOR, Port Alfred Bureau
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