Cape Town - Three dumb criminalsarmed with a toy gun were caught after they robbed a matric girl of her cellphone and then took selfies.
The suspects, who fled in an old Nissan 1400 bakkie, were caught byStrandfontein cops minutes after the robbery.
Muizenberg High School matriculant, Chandor Williams, 17, from Bayview, said on Friday morning, she and two friends had got a lift from school, and the driver dropped them off in Baden Powell Drive in Bayview.
The trio were walking up Seafarer Drive when they were accosted.
“It’s not usually unsafe to walk here,” Williams said.
“I felt my phone was going to fall out of my breast pocket, I pushed it back into my pocket and then the bakkie suddenly pulled up right behind us.
“The guy pushed a gun to my head and said, ‘jy, gee jou phone hier’ (give me your phone). I just gave it to him and he ran and they drove off,” she said.
Williams said her shocked friends, who saw the whole incident, ran off to get help.
Luckily, they saw a policeman sitting in a van just around the corner.
The cop immediately alerted his colleagues and a chase ensued to Swartklip, where three of the four alleged thieves were nabbed.
Police confiscated their yellow and white Nissan bakkie, as well as Williams’s stolen phone, a Huawei P8 .
Williams said: “I was so relieved but really afraid. We went to the police station the afternoon for counselling and the suspects had just been brought in. I could identify them and show who had pointed the gun at me.
“Then we discovered the selfies they had taken on my phone and I had to give it back for evidence,” she added.
Williams said she hopes other people can learn from her experience: “We were lucky. There was an officer around the corner who helped us, but I was careless and should not have my phone or any other valuables showing.
“I know now that the gun was not real, but the next guy’s might be.”
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk confirmed the incident.
“This office can confirm that three suspects appeared in Mitchells Plain Magistrates’ Court on Monday. A cellphone was recovered.”
Daily Voice