Steve Barrington of Barrington Diesel Club robbed at Gunpoint!

Article at Barrington Diesel Club

Steve Barrington of Barrington Diesel Club robbed at gunpoint near Johannesburg after visiting the First National Bank at Centurion in Midrand. Robbed at gunpoint is the story of how Steve Barrington founder of Barrington Diesel Club was robbed at gunpoint.

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Yes, robbed at gunpoint, and the circumstances stink!

Image of one of the guns used in the robbery.

Some things are never said or seen, and other's would be better never said or seen, still others, once said or seen, may serve as a warning to anyone found in similar circumstances.
Well let's hope some sort of experiential wisdom can be gotten from the incident that I've related in the following few lines.
However I state from the outset, I make no judgments or accusations about anyone involved in the story, it is simply a factual transmission of the what happened to me, with practical recommendations that one can take to avoid the same type of thing happening to them.
The truth of the matter is, that such things happen on a daily basis in many countries of the world, and many, many people have their own stories to relate, some with much more serious consequences than what happened to me.

Robbed at gunpoint!

I was on my way to fix a Detroit Diesel 4-71T engine near Rustenburg and needed to get cash before I arrived.

This is my account of what happened during and after cashing that fateful cheque at the 'First National Bank' on the Old Johannesburg road near Centurion.

I've waited quite a while to tell the story, since I felt investigators at the police and the 'First National Bank' would need time to go into the matter unaffected by any narratives concerning the matter.
Investigation by the bank because there are factors in the incident that relate to the conduct of the bank's staff while I was cashing the cheque; and as one must submit complaints to the First National Bank in writing, any investigation by them is likely to take a couple of weeks.

The First National Bank has a complaints procedure where you are free to email your story and state your complaint or point of view.
Now, I would assume that since the incidents at the bank were followed by an armed robbery they would have viewed any security footage to ascertain exactly what did happen at the bank, and during this viewing they may see something relevant on their security cameras which would help to resolve the matter.
Well, I would love to see any such security footage myself, but no such courtesy has been offered to me by the bank, and to date, I have been asked no questions by the bank relating to my complaint, nor has any meaningful reply has been given to me.
Please show me the footage, please show it to the whole world.

The incident occurred on 7th October 2010, so now I think it's time to tell the story so that others can benefit from it in some way and hopefully to translate my bad experience into some sort of practical wisdom and usefulness for others.

Basic Story

Cashed a cheque
I cashed a cheque for R 25,000 at the First National Bank at the Pick ‘n Pay center on the Old Johannesburg Rd between Centurion and Midrand.

Waiting for the cash
While waiting to have the cheque cashed there were three distinct instances about the bank staff's behavior that I was unhappy about. These things should be verifiable from the bank's security footage.

The Lady phoning for the cheque authorization from an office behind the teller area spoke in such a loud voice that everyone in the bank could hear that a Steve Barrington was here to cash a cheque for R 25 000
While waiting for the cash the teller left the bank, and I had to wait between 5 to 10 minutes for him to return before I was given my cash.
The bank's floor manageress also left the bank during the period I was waiting for the cash.

On leaving the bank
I left the bank and then after I got into my bakkie, I split the cash into two bundles. R 5,000 I put into my shirt pocket, and the balance I left in the banking bag and put it under the passenger seat of my bakkie. I proceeded to the highway put petrol in at the petro-port, and then left the highway to go to Rustenburg.

Forced of the road
Shortly afterwards I was forced off the road by three armed men wearing police reflective jackets. They were driving an unmarked saloon car registration number YPK 677 GP.

I asked them for ID and then one of them drew his gun. They proceeded to search me, found and took the R 5, 000 but they demanded more money. I told them I had no more money, but as if they knew, they searched and rummaged through my bakkie and among my tools until they found the cash bag.

Having found the bag they took my bakkie keys, my two cell phones and the money and drove away. While driving away, I entreated the leading robber for my bakkie keys which, thankfully, he then threw into the veld.

Not interested in anything but the cash
Frankly I was expecting worse, that they would have taken my bakkie, my tools, and my bank cards. However once they found the bank bag they seemed quite satisfied and left with only the cash, my cell phones, and the keys.

Stopped a passing truck
I searched for but was unable to find the keys so I stopped a passing truck and asked for help. The driver his two assistants and I, searched for and eventually found the keys.
I am sincerely thankful to them, they gave of their time and helped me when in distress.

Opened police case
I opened a police case, which was assigned to an investigating officer. He asked me a couple of questions relating to the serial numbers of the cell phones that I had lost. He was of the opinion that they will eventually trace and be able to question the owner of the saloon car that was used in the robbery. At that stage, and only depending on what its owner said, the police may or may not question the staff at the bank.

Legal advice
I asked my lawyer if he considered the bank culpable. Basically he replied that without proof that the bank's staff were complicit it was a waste of time and money.

All I had to offer was that the teller seemed to be unprofessional. The fact that the teller left the bank while he was serving me, and only came back after he had done whatever to eventually give me my money, was irrelevant and did not constitute evidence of any criminal activity.

For all we know, the teller leaving the bank while serving a customer, only to return after several minutes to give the customer his money may be normal banking practice, and therefore not unprofessional at all.

I also invested a few rand and got advice from one of the internet specialists - my question being 'Can I sue the bank for negligence or poor banking practices?' The reply was that in SA it would be a first, with an outcome that would, at best, have gloomy prospects of success.

Practical lessons learned.

What can be said? How can we benefit from the experience?

You must know that whatever happens to you - you're on your own. You simply have to consider the whole banking environment to be hostile and dangerous, and screen yourself as best as you can.
- You don't even know if a bank has security footage or not. You can doubt that because the bank "seems to be unprofessional" in other matters and offers no evidence or explanation to the contrary.
  
  If one considers a teller leaving a bank while serving a customer, only to return several minutes later to give the client his money to be "unprofessional or rude or whatever else", that is one's opinion and nothing more.
  
  This is in complete contrast from what is demanded from you. Facts are demanded from you.
  e.g. I had to provide detailed statements of my version of what happened to the bank and to the police, with serial numbers, registration numbers, names, descriptions, account numbers, and so on.
- You do not even know if the bank will investigate an incident or not, or what action they will take if any. With no comments, no evidence, no explanations, you simply don't know.
- It seems no meaningful communication has to be or will be offered, and legally recourse (at least in SA) is unobtainable or an expensive white elephant.
Don't cash cheques at any bank if you can avoid it.
You can make your own conclusions about the professionalism, safety and security of the bank, you can ask yourself if you would have expected a different response or attitude from the First National Bank as a whole, but whatever conclusions you may come to, whatever efforts you make, at the end of the day its only your opinion, so be sure to take every precaution possible, avoid banks as much as possible and treat that environment as hostile.