Cape Argus - SABC cameraman Peter Brewis’s plans for a leisurely weekend away were interrupted by two armed men who held him up in his home for nearly an hour.
A man with a gun and another with a knife forced Brewis into his house from his garage, where he had been packing his car.
“I was walking in and out to the garage, and when I walked back out there was a guy standing there with a 9mm. He cocked it and held his finger up to his lips as if to tell me not to scream or talk.”
As the man led Brewis into his kitchen in his Richwood home, a second assailant entered the house and forced Brewis to lead them to his bedroom, then ordered him to hand over the keys to the safe.
They also demanded money and his firearm.
“Then, out of nowhere came a blow to my left temple and it wiped me out for a second. I imagine it was the back of the 9mm and then there was blood all over.
“That was my wake-up call and I realised that they were serious.”
The suspects then bound his hands and taped his mouth shut before taking their time ransacking the house, taking turns watching him with either the gun or knife held to his face.
“I realised that if there was any way to save my own life, I had to run through the kitchen, then the garage and out into the open. That would be my only escape route. They hadn’t tied my feet then.
“I waited till what I considered was the right time. Call it brave or stupid, I jumped up and I ran. But unfortunately they grabbed me in the garage.”
The robbers bound Brewis’s legs and arms together and put a bag over his head.
“I couldn’t breathe. I was looking up at the ceiling of my own bedroom, wondering if this is when I die. I was waiting for the shot, but then they left. I heard them close the bedroom door.”
Brewis said he heard more gunshots outside, where a neighbour had shot one of the suspects. He said he was grateful to his neighbours and armed response units.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said that two suspects aged 23 and 26 were arrested.
Cape Argus