While most residents who are caught off-guard, freeze in fear when an intruder invades their personal space, one brave Wespark resident fought off his attacker, to protect both himself and his family.
It was a brave 57-year-old Mahesh Lockchander, who held an intruder at gunpoint this past Monday (March 26), at his property on Middle Crescent at around 10pm, that had the community praising him for his courage.
Speaking to the Laudium Sun, Mahesh, who works for the City of Tshwane, said that when his son looked through his bedroom window, he noticed an intruder jumping the boundary fence and creeping into the yard.
Mahesh related that his entire family was home at the time, including his wife and daughter, who was staying over with her husband.
"I retrieved one of my firearms from my bedroom and then went outside to see what was going on," Mahesh said.
The brave father said he found the intruder just outside his kitchen door at the rear of their home, crouching, unaware of Mahesh's presence.
"I shouted and ordered him to get on the ground," the courageous Mahesh said. "He tried to fight me, but I quickly overpowered him and pulled him to the ground.”
Mahesh added that he held the intruder in place and alerted his son to quickly call the police, who arrived on scene about ten minutes later.
"He seemed disorientated, like he was high. He just lay there, on the ground, and told me he was from Lotus Gardens and was struggling to find work so that is why he resorted to stealing. I did not feel threatened enough to shoot the hoodlum, so I waited for the police to deal with him. The Pretoria West SAPS identified the suspect as Robert Malunga (28).
I later found out from the police after he was arrested, that there are two cases of burglary pending against him and that he would most likely be sentenced for a long time for his crimes. I am glad that I was able to stop this fiend, or God only knows what he could have done. He seemed shocked when my firearm was pointed at him, but I suspect it was just a ruse to see if I would let him go," the father exclaimed.
Brave homeowner, Mahesh Lockchander, stopped an intruder in his tracks.
The Middle Crescent home where a criminal, scaled the boundary fence to gain entry into the premises, but was subsequently caught by the home owner.