Had this report sent to me a few weeks ago Date Reported: 2010-04-20 18:04:38<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Incident Date: 2010-04-09 11:00:00 Reported By: Andre Type Robbery Area: GAUTENG, RANDBURG, Description: Bicycle Hijacking Northern areas of 4ways A dangerous pattern of Mountain Bike Hijacking has developed in the Chartwell North area. It would appear that Mountain Bike riders returning from Northern Farm via Herron Bridge to Fourways usually enter via Chartwell North at the gate at Runnymeade - Cnr 9th or lower. In the last 4 weeks there have been 3 armed bicycle hijackings in the general area see detail below. We would like to encourage people to ride in groups 4 or bigger, not to stop for any suspicious pedestrian no matter how friendly they may seem. ? 1st 20 March - Husband and wife riders Two cyclists were hijacked on Sat 20 March at about 10am just outside Chartwell's bottom gate - (a lady that stables at Doug Andrew) her husband and friend from overseas returned from cycling at Northern Farm. They had gone over the Heron Bridge low level bridge and cycled up the hill back to Chartwell. They were held up by two black men walking in the road (one armed with a knife and one with a gun). The husband had his T-shirt slashed open in front, lucky they did not shoot. Their two bikes, wallet, ruck-sack, watches and cell phones were stolen. ? 2nd 27 March - 2 male riders There apparently was an attack on 2 cyclists in the morning either in Runnymead or the dirt road behind it. I was told that they were beaten up quite badly I don't know what was taken from them. ? 3rd 9 April - 3 male riders On Saturday 09/04/2010 at around 09H00 we were attached by two armed African men whilst riding our Mountain Bikes, one had a knife and the other a gun. This occurred as we were entering the gate at the bottom of Ninth. The guys seemed friendly and even spoke to us before they attacked, and had just been chatting to two ladies on horseback prior to the incident. They seemed to know exactly what they were doing, and obviously have done this before. After taking two bikes and our backpacks they then went along the path to Diepsloot. While we were lucky in the fact there were no injuries, the fact that they attacked three guys in broad daylight and in the open, indicates just how brazen they are, and with this latest success who knows what could be next. NB Measures have been taken, however it should be realised that limited resources can only cover limited areas and Cyclists should apply savvy when out there. Regards Jerry De Beer Chairperson
