Warning: Two men attempt robbery in peak traffic

A Roodepoort West resident, Shelley Amber Burns-Vermaak, has told the Record that she feels it is her duty to warn residents after she nearly fell victim to an armed robbery at an unlikely location.

The 31-year-old woman was driving home from her workplace in Bryanston when she reached the traffic lights at the intersection of William Nicol and Ontdekkers Roads. It was about 5.50pm and she was waiting at the traffic light, surrounded by other vehicles in the peak-hour traffic.

“Two males wearing blue jackets suddenly approached my window whilst I was about five cars away from the intersection, coming up the hill from 14th Avenue.

I had noticed the one guy walk past a few seconds earlier but did not make much of it. Luckily my doors were locked and my window only about two to three centimetres down,” said Burns-Vermaak.

“As soon as I saw the first guy at my window, I tried to push the button to close the window. He must have jammed either his finger or something else into the gap in order to block it. I didn’t manage to get a look at what it was. He then started shouting at me to give him my cellphone or else his friend, who was positioned next to him, would shoot me,” she said.

“My first instinct was to start hooting, which in any case did not help, and to avoid eye contact. They kept on shouting, ‘Give the phone or we are gonna shoot you’. His friend was unzipping his jacket and putting his hand to his chest, basically indicating to me that the gun was there and he was about to pull it out. I must have had a guardian angel by my side as the traffic light then changed and they just nonchalantly walked away,” explained Burns-Vermaak.

According to Burns-Vermaak, a colleague, who had left work 10 minutes before she did and who travels the same road, told her that when she had stopped at the traffic light earlier, the two men were also walking among the vehicles, smiling in a friendly manner.

“I know that the 14th Avenue and Hendrik Potgieter Road intersection is a hijacking and smash-and-grab hotspot, but have never heard any reports of incidents at this intersection,” concluded Burns-Vermaak.

The Record too has never before received any information of criminal activity at the intersection.

Also read:

Jeep thief escapes after high-speed chase

6-year-old flung from car during hijacking

Two arrested after hijacking-turned-accident