Pretoria - Police have issued descriptions of two suspects wanted in connection with the gruesome attack on a 78-year-old man at his home at Menlyn.
Peter Treichel was home alone watching TV around 10pm last Thursday when two intruders entered his house and overpowered him. It is unknown how the attackers entered the house because it has a fence and an alarm.
According to the Gauteng provincial police spokesperson, Captain Mavela Masondo, one alleged suspect is of slender build and about 1.75m tall and dark in complexion. The other is of medium build, light in complexion and about 1.8m tall.
Masondo said: "Brooklyn police are looking for the two men following the incident in which Treichel was reportedly tortured by the attackers.”
He said it was just before his bed time when Treichel, a former director of an engineering company, decided to slightly open his sliding door to get some fresh air as it was hot.
After he'd been sitting for five minutes on the couch, two intruders pounced on him from behind the curtain.
Treichel's wife was at the time sleeping in the shop on the same property a few metres from where he was attacked.
According to reports, Treichel was hit over the head with a crystal bowl and a flower pot.
Treichel tried to defend himself, after which the attackers hit him over the head with a flowerpot a second time before strangling him, forcing him to the floor. They then tied him up with electrical wires.
The pair then demanded a code for the safe. After a failed attempt to open the safe, one of them returned with boiling water and threw it over Treichel's arm and leg. It is believed the attack lasted for two hours.
Treichel managed to activate the panic button, and the suspects fled the scene with a handful of valuable goods.
He suffered massive blood loss from gashes on his hands and head for which he had to receive 32 stitches.
Treichel is still recovering.
Masondo said no arrests have been made yet, but added that “police hope to make a breakthrough soon”.
Meanwhile, also in the east of the capital, two suspected gate motor thieves were arrested in Garsfontein.
Garsfontein police station spokesperson Warrant Officer Duane Lightfoot said the arrests were made during an intelligence-driven operation involving police station managers, security companies and the local community.
Pretoria News