“My aim was to keep them away from my family for as long as possible, until the security company arrived. Unfortunately my youngest son saw most of the fighting..."
A homeowner in Durban’s Outer West who armed himself with cane knives and took on three black attackers, was severely beaten as he fought to protect his family early on Sunday
GENOCIDE VICTIMS:
Steven Greenwood, 48 & his wife Lynette
During a pitched battle, Steven Greenwood, 48, was repeatedly struck and left shaken, with cuts and bruises.
His wife, Lynette, was punched in the face by the armed robbers.
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Waterfall man tells of battle with three black attackers:
Durban - The drama began at 1.30am when Greenwood was awoken in his Brackenhill Road, Waterfall, home.
A CCTV sensor had picked up movement in his yard and sent an alert to his phone.
Peering at the CCTV monitor he noticed someone at his front door.
Greenwood, a computer programmer, set off the alarm to scare the man away, but when he got into the passage he heard bangs and the shattering of glass.
“I saw shadows in the yard and a hole in the sliding door glass. He used wooden garden chairs to break the glass. I grabbed a pair of cane knives from under my bed, hoping it would scare him off. I pushed the knives through the hole but he kept hitting the window until it completely shattered,” he said.
Greenwood found he was face to face with three men, who he said were “focused” on getting in.
The men threw wooden chairs and tables at him while they grappled in the lounge.
“They were pounding me on the head and back with any furniture they could find. One of them pulled out a gun. He dropped it when I whacked him on the forearm. He held his arm and cried out in pain. I shouted to my wife to bring the gun. Again thinking it would scare them,” Greenwood said.
At that moment he backtracked into the passage, narrowing the space around him as the blows rained down on him from all sides.
His wife passed him an airgun which he pointed at them. The men ran out of the door, but hid outside and ambushed Greenwood as he came out to see where they had gone. They then struck him with planks, a broom and a flat screen TV.
Greenwood’s 4-year-old son witnessed the attacks from his bedroom and will undergo trauma counselling.
“I ran back in to fetch the knives but slipped in a pool of blood and fell to the floor. They were on me. Realising I was being beaten senseless, I screamed I give up. They stopped hitting me, dragged me to the room and tied me up with computer cables,” Greenwood said.
His wife tried to phone their security company, but was grabbed and punched in the face.
The men demanded the car keys from her. Hearing his wife scream for help, Greenwood mustered all his strength and broke free, but the robbers were already fleeing the property.
Lynette said the men had gone crazy and did not stop until they got what they wanted.
“They threatened to kill Lynette while forcing the bangles off her hand. When I got out to the yard I heard footsteps in the bushes. My wife was opening the gate to let the security company in. I knew it was over and fell down in a dizzy spell,” he said.
Greenwood is nursing four gashes on his head, a sprained thumb, a swollen face, cuts and bruises on his arms and body and a cut above his ankle. His wife suffered a blood clot in her eye.
When the Daily News arrived, there was blood throughout the house.
While the couple were being treated in hospital, Greenwood’s two sons and Labrador, Roxy, stayed at a friend’s home.
“My aim was to keep them away from my family for as long as possible, until the security company arrived. Unfortunately my youngest son saw most of the fighting.
“The fact that they didn’t run away until the security company arrived worried me. I thought we are in serious trouble here. Not a nice way to wake up in the morning,” Greenwood said.
The family are grateful to the neighbourhood watch and security companies that came to their aid.
Blue Security operations manage Brian Jackson said the robbers fled with a laptop, an iPad, a tablet, a cellphone, a gaming console, jewellery and other valuables.
Steven King, of SA Cares Combined Action Response, said the men fled into nearby dense bush and could not be found despite an extensive search. He said a jacket belonging to one of the robbers had been found in the bush.
Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said a case of house robbery had been opened at Hillcrest police station.
http://iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/waterfall-man-tells-of-battle-with-armed-robbers-2007833
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