Gang of five make away with P365, 000 loot in late-night home robbery
Less than an hour after retiring to bed for the evening, a married Maun couple received a horrific awakening, stirred from their sleep at around 2300 hours by five masked intruders demanding money.
Armed with crowbars and sticks, the gang subjected Katherine Ann Ives, 61, and her husband Martin Ives, 69, to a night of terror after breaking into their home in Maptlapana ward on Sunday 1st September.
The robbers are said to have gone beyond mere threats, leaving Martin a bloody mess after beating-up the old man.
The police have since arrested three Gaborone men in connection with the incident: Releseng Tshekiso, 29, Thuso Manuedi, 40, and Lloyd Lone Matlhaga, 26, while two other suspects remain on the run.
Appearing before Maun Magistrates Court last week, the unemployed trio, who all pleaded not-guilty, were hit with two separate robbery counts.
The cops are considering adding an extra charge of ‘cruelty to animals’ as the suspects reportedly killed the Ives’ dog, giving the pet poisoned-meat to silence it before breaking-in.
In total, the accused are said to have made away with P365, 000 worth of goods and cash.
On the first count, the gang allegedly forced Katherine Ann to transfer P29, 000 through pay to cell, stole P20, 000 from her safe, took a diamond ring worth P175, 000, two iPhones with a combined value of P45, 000 and two gold rings worth P30, 000.
They also reportedly pinched her bank card and withdrew P4, 500 from a nearby FNB ATM after fleeing the scene in the Ives’ car.
On count two, the robbers are accused of ‘using actual violence’ to steal Martin’s Iphone 13, valued at P20, 000, as well as his Lenovo laptop and MacBook Air, worth P32, 000 altogether.
Urging court to lock-up the three suspects on remand, Detective Assistant Commissioner, Seargent Marapo pointed out investigations were just getting started, with none of the stolen items recovered and two more suspects still missing.
“We fear they may interfere with investigations. We have not yet arrested the other two men, and we do not know what will happen if they are released on bail!” noted Marapo.
The top cop revealed they managed to track down the suspects to the capital city by tracing the sim-card used to receive the pay-to-cell from Katherine Ann.
“The number to which the money was transferred from Mrs Ives’s phone was registered in Tshekiso’names while Manyedi has used the same number to register for cell phone banking. Matlhaga has been linked to the offence as his Nokia phone was the last to house the SIM card linked to the offense,” explained Marapo, adding the thieves hurt the husband badly.
“Martin was brutally assaulted by the gang. He was taken to the hospital for treatment and a medical report form, which will form part of the evidence, was filled. He is in South Africa receiving further treatment.”
Remanded behind bars for now, Tshekiso of Old Naledi, Manuedi from Bontleng ward and Matlhaga, who resides in G West, are due before court again on 23 September to find out whether they will get bail.
It is not necessary and not at all in the public interest to disclose how the culprits were traced…. This is a serious security breach and a high level of unprofessionalism on the part of our police.
They are supposed to say they managed to trace and apprehend three suspects. The how part only equips the future robbers to up their game….
shame