A learner from Strand High School was threatened with a knife last Thursday (November 24) and almost robbed of her mobile phone if it hadn’t been for her screams, which alerted a nearby member of the Strand neighborhood watch to her distress.
Philip Versfeld from Strand neighborhood watch says a teenage girl from the Strand High School was on her way to school around 07:30, when she was threatened by a man with a knife in a field near the school.
“She screamed and one of our members heard her and rushed out,” says Versfeld.
At that moment, more security officers stopped there and the suspect tried to take the shortcut and fled in the direction of Lwandle before he was apprehended by members of the neighborhood watch, and Gordons Bay and AM security and handed over to the police.
According to Warrant Officer Nico Beukes, a spokesperson for Strand police, no complaint was reported to the police and the suspect was released.
Versfeld says a misunderstanding arose with the learner’s parents, who thought the police were going to visit them to report the complaint, which then never happened.
The parents of the teenage girl then agreed to go to the police station themselves and report the complaint there, but the suspect had already been released.
