“They got so comfortable, to a point that they even ate,” a victim was quoted as saying.
Criminals dressed in police clothes are said to have robbed a Mason’s Mill family in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal of their phones and car, as well as raiding their fridge, frying and eating their meat while the victims were held in a room for almost five hours.
According to The Witness, this occurred on Friday night, April 12, when the family heard a knock on the door from five people who introduced themselves as law enforcement officers.
The alleged perpetrators were four men and one woman. They were allegedly equipped with firearms, and one wore a bulletproof vest with the term police written on it.
“One of the robbers took my mother to all the rooms looking for money and a firearm, while the others guarded us in the room. They only got R7,500. There was no firearm in the house ... They got so comfortable, to a point that they even ate,” a man from the house was quoted as saying.
They supposedly took meat from the fridge and fried it while committing the crime. According to the news site, he expressed gratitude that no one was hurt, but the tragedy has traumatised the family.
“We are even scared to sleep now because we do not know what is going to happen. If these people come back, there are no guarantees that they will spare our lives,” he told The Witness.
There have been several crimes over the years where people pretend to be police officers.
In January, four friends were abducted by individuals impersonating police officers. The victims, Ziyaad and Jameel Salley, Yusuf Sabre, and Ahmed Dhorat, were on their way between Standerton and Trichart in Mpumalanga when they were stopped by the fake police officers.
“The four men were kidnapped and kept captive while the suspects withdrew large sums of money from their bank accounts,” said national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.
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