Durban – The quick-thinking reaction of an elderly couple in Glen Anil thwarted the attempts of two would-be robbers in Highdale Road on February 18, 2015.
During the attempted robbery the men assaulted the elderly man but were not able to enter the home, where his wife (70) and their domestic worker were hiding.
The knife-wielding duo targeted the property of 74-year-old Dennis Moran, thinking that it would be an easy target. The brazen robbers blind-sided Moran while he was sweeping his driveway. They pinned him to the ground and held a knife at his throat, demanding to know who was in the house.
“I had opened my front gate and had my back turned to it as I swept down the driveway. That was when they must have entered my property. They grabbed me from behind and pushed me to the ground. They held a knife against my throat and they wanted to know who was inside my home. I told them that only my wife and our domestic worker were at home,” he said.
While still holding Moran at knife point the brash thieves asked the resident how they could gain entry into his home. Knowing that the front door would be locked Moran responded that it was the only way in.
One of the robbers immediately aimed for the front door. At that point the brave resident screamed for his wife, alerting her to the robbers’ presence.
Once the robber reached the front door he calmly asked the domestic worker for a glass of worker, but as Moran’s screams had alerted her to the men’s sinister plans she told him to leave.
The frustrated robber then returned to the driveway where his accomplice was holding Moran at knife point, and asked for keys to the house. When Moran denied having any keys he hit the elderly resident against the head and immediately began rifling though his pockets – where he found the gate keys.
The duo then dragged the resident to a back door in the garage, but it had also been locked by the women in the house. When they realised that the keys would not open the door they dragged Moran to another door at the back of the house, which had also been locked. By then Moran’s wife had pressed the panic button.
“At this stage I believe they began to feel that they were running out of time and gave up. They dropped me to the ground and quickly walked down the driveway and up the road. Authorities arrived minutes later,” said the shaken resident.
He added that apart from being a bit traumatised they were all uninjured.
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