Parents of a teenager who was badly beaten by two others near Montecasino in Fourways are offering a R5 000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest of his attackers.
They said security guards were unable to help stop the fight.
Shaun (not his real name) and his friends were waiting for their parents near the mall’s entrance 3 on Friday night when he was attacked.
He said on Sunday that after hearing stories of fights at Montecasino’s main entrance, the friends thought that instead of wading through dozens of possibly drunk teens, they’d use the other entrance.
“A friend of mine said he was beaten up at the front entrance, so we were actually trying to stay away from any fights,” Shaun said.
He and a classmate had been sitting between the well-lit entrance to the parking lot and the nearby Southern Sun hotel with two teenage girls when two older teens began to provoke them..
Shaun said the altercation started when the would-be attackers directed a laser pointer at their faces and followed them. Becoming irritated, it was Shaun who eventually asked the pair to stop.
“What did you say to me? Are you disrespecting me?” asked the taller attacker, who took the first swing before Shaun could respond.
“They were pretty much just looking for a fight,” he said.
That first punch to the jaw would knock the 14-year-old to the ground, where he would lose consciousness for several seconds.
His friends looked on in horror as the two boys, believed to be between the ages of 16 and 18, began to kick and punch Shaun, who was disoriented and bleeding.
The beating continued for a while before a passing car started hooting, scaring the assailants.
The couple, who had been driving in an Audi TT towards the parking lot, jumped from the vehicle.
“The man actually ran after the two guys with some pepper spray, but he couldn’t catch them. I don’t know what would have happened if they hadn’t come,” said Shaun.
A security guard, allegedly just 50m away, had radioed for help only after the motorist started hooting.
Shaun’s parents believe this means he either had ignored the screams of the teenagers or had been completely unaware of the situation.
“Either way, they need more security, especially on (weekend) nights,” said Shaun’s father.
Shaun was taken to Fourways Life Hospital, where he was treated for cuts to his face and arms. It took almost an hour to sew the 10cm wound on the inside of his cheek.
The two teenagers were described as well built and sporting spiky, medium-length, dark hair. The first punch was thrown by a teenager wearing a pair of white shorts and a yellow v-neck shirt.
Montecasino spokeswoman Vanessa Naudé said security in that area was limited because the area between the hotel and the entrance was not a public space on the property, and had only limited security camera coverage.
“But it does seem like the kind of place someone would go if they were getting up to no good,” she said. - The Star