Deaf Barista Brutally Stabbed, Robbed

Deaf News: Thembelihle Quze, who is Deaf and works at the coffee cafe, was robbed at knifepoint and stabbed.


CAPE TOWN -- Cape Argus: A Deaf man from Gugulethu who survived a near-death experience when he was stabbed twice in the chest and arm during an armed robbery said he fears for his life. Thembelihle Quze, 23, who recently re-integrated in society when he started working at a coffee shop in Claremont, said Saturday’s attack had made him vulnerable again. He was stabbed while walking home after visiting a friend near his home in Gugulethu NY111.

“Two men came walking towards me, I saw them talking but was not able to hear what they were saying. The one guy came up to me and demanded money. I tried to tell them I didn’t have any, but they weren’t even paying attention to me as I signed. The one guy pocketed me and then stabbed me.”

The two men fled the scene and Quze was helped by neighbours who had seen him. “I could not scream for help. I feel they targeted me because I am deaf; right now I am too scared to leave the house, I have no one to chat to,” Quze said, speaking through a sign language interpreter. For the past seven months, Quze had been working at I Love Coffee in Claremont as a barista. At the coffee shop, which comprise mostly Deaf employees, he acquired social and life skills training which is said to have helped him interact with others.

Quze had started gym training and was also teaching clients sign language. A part of his job also included travelling to Joburg which his father, Mbuyiselo Mbali, said encouraged Quze to be more social. “He refuses to leave the house and we, too, fear for his life. In this area, Deaf people are targets. My son right now is in pain, the stitches in his chest are bleeding. This is not right,” said Mbali. He said the incident changed his son. Coffee shop owner, Gary Hopkins said the sweat classes at the gym had helped Quze defend himself during the robbery.

He said the coffee shop, which employs mostly Deaf youth as part of its social enterprise work, hired Deaf people to escape violence and to boost the employment rate. Part of the work programme includes life skills training. “Most Deaf children grow up in homes where they are overprotected. They become easy targets because they don’t have the necessary life skills. “Thembe (his nickname), because of the gym partnership we have, has become quite an athlete. He was able to protect himself and smart enough not to carry money on him,” said Hopkins.

Elderly Deaf Couple Recovering After Brutal Home Invasion

VIDEO: Deaf News: Three Memphis men were arrested and charged with a home invasion in the Wesson Height subdivision in Olive Branch, Mississippi.



OLIVE BRANCH, MS -- WREG: A couple was terrorized, beaten and robbed.The couple said it was God that helped get them through.



Through sign language and translation help from their son, Diann and Jimmy Kelley said they were in their kitchen when three men Charles Gayles, Jeffrey Richardson, and Charlonte Smith broke through a back bedroom window, entered their home, shut the lights off and attacked them.



Diann Kelley, 68, said the men flipped over the kitchen table, tied her up with duct tape over her mouth, wrists, and ankles, and beat her husband over and over with the ends of their rifles.

"He says they just kept beating him with the guns. He can’t count how many times they hit him," the Kelley's son, Kevin, said through translation. "His hands are all swollen they hit his hands because he was trying to cover his head. They broke that finger. They broke his ribs."



When the men left with duffle bags worth of their belongings, Diann was able to rip the tape off her mouth, find a knife to cut the tape from her ankles, and run for help.



Jimmy is now back at home after suffering two broken ribs, an ear that had to be stitched back together, and gashes in his head.



"She has no idea why,” Kevin said. “Maybe because they are Deaf, they are taking advantage of them not being able to hear. They weren't satisfied the first time with what they were able to get out?"



This wasn’t the first time the couple was targeted. Earlier in July, the couple said the same men entered through their garage door, but Jimmy was able to reach for a gun and start shooting, which caused the men to run.



Multiple police agencies searched for the men after Diann got help. One of the men was found in the attic and another was found several houses down. Diann said the man in the attic actually fell through the ceiling, and that is how officers found him.



"She said, ‘why should she let three boys win over her and scare her?’ She's not going to allow it,” Kevin said.



The family said thanks to prayers, they are making it through.



SOURCE



Related:

Elderly Deaf Couple Had Been Dead Inside Home

Deaf Man Brutally Beaten & Suspects Arrested

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: The raw footage of brutal beating and robbed a Deaf man. Two men taken into custody in Riverside, California.



The following video contains footage of graphic vioence which may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewers discretion is advised.



RIVERSIDE, CA - Riverside Police Department say that a man was beaten at 1 a.m. May 19, 2015, at the coffee shop on Mission Inn Avenue in Riverside, California. Two men attacked and robbed a Deaf customer outside The Coffee Bean Cafe at Mission Inn and Main. The suspects fled the area on foot. A MacBook was stolen from the victim.



Two 22-year-old Riverside men are behind bars on suspicion of beating and robbing a Deaf man of a laptop computer last month in that city at a downtown coffee shop, police say.

Daniel Allen Estremera and Dawone Anthony Finnell both were arrested Tuesday, June 30, for investigation of robbery, conspriacy, and parole violation, police said.



Surveillance video shows the victim being approached by two men who beat him to the ground and escaped with what police described as his MacBook laptop computer.



The device hasn't been recovered, said Milby, who declined to say what specific evidence connects the two suspects to the crime. Source

Thieves Steal Deaf Man's Scooter

RAW VIDEO: Thieves steal Deaf man's scooter caught on video.



Here's a raw footage of a 64 year old Deaf man has been beaten by thieves who stole his motorised scooter.



A 64-year-old Deaf man had a bottle smashed in his face after his scooter was stolen from Swan View last weekend. Detectives are appealing for the public’s help to catch the three young thugs involved in the assault.

About 9:30pm last Saturday night, the Swan View man noticed his electric scooter was missing from the back patio of his Patterson Drive home. The 64-year-old walked across the road to look for his scooter in a park, where he had found it abandoned once before. He was then approached by three teenage boys, who walked towards him from a nearby lake.



Two of the boys pushed and shoved the man before one of them smashed a bottle in his face. The victim dropped to the ground then managed to run home. He sustained a cut and swelling to his cheek.



The scooter was later found damaged and partially submerged in the lake. ... Read more: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/16208285/thugs-steal-scooter-and-bash-deaf-owner/