ROBBERS who raided two cellphone stores in two East London shopping malls made off with dummy cellphones from one of them.
A group of seven robbed the MTN store at Hemingways Mall at 6am before apparently driving to Vincent Park Shopping Centre and robbing the MTN store there.
Hemingways general manager Dean Deary said after using entrance eight of the mall, the group rushed to the store and used a large rock to break the glass store front.
The hapless thieves failed to make off with any laptops as they could not disconnect them. Deary said they fled with only dummy cellphones used for display purposes.
“Our footage shows the men being dropped from a vehicle at the mall. It was still dark outside and the staff member who opened for them thought they were employees coming to work. It was the first time such a crime has happened in our mall,” Deary said.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived at the shop, a crime scene expert was busy with investigations and laptops were strewn on the floor.
In the Vincent Park incident, shortly after 6am, the robbers gained entrance through doors near Game.
They smashed these doors with a rock which they had carried inside a box to prevent it being detected on the centre’s security cameras.
The glass door of the MTN shop was cracked. At this store the thieves made off with laptop computers as well as dummy cellphones, according to police.
Workers, locked outside the store as police investigated, said it was the second break-in in recent months.
A security guard, who rushed to the scene after witnessing the men on the centre’s CCTV cameras, had a gun pointed at him.
Centre manager Joseph Parsley said: “Fortunately no shots were fired. These were desperate criminals who specifically targeted the MTN store, despite the security we have in place. We alerted our armed response but when they arrived at the scene, which was before the police, the men had already fled.”
Neither store opened yesterday.
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said they suspected both burglaries were carried out by the same gang. “We have opened a case ... the stores are still conducting their internal investigations so it is not clear what else was stolen and how much the damage will cost.
“We appeal to anyone who might have any information about these incidents to come forward and inform the police,” Mbi said.
The manager of both stores refused to comment, saying she feared they would be targeted again. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
Robbers smash way into two EL cellphone stores
A group of seven robbed the MTN store at Hemingways Mall at 6am before apparently driving to Vincent Park Shopping Centre and robbing the MTN store there.
Hemingways general manager Dean Deary said after using entrance eight of the mall, the group rushed to the store and used a large rock to break the glass store front.
The hapless thieves failed to make off with any laptops as they could not disconnect them. Deary said they fled with only dummy cellphones used for display purposes.
“Our footage shows the men being dropped from a vehicle at the mall. It was still dark outside and the staff member who opened for them thought they were employees coming to work. It was the first time such a crime has happened in our mall,” Deary said.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived at the shop, a crime scene expert was busy with investigations and laptops were strewn on the floor.
In the Vincent Park incident, shortly after 6am, the robbers gained entrance through doors near Game.
They smashed these doors with a rock which they had carried inside a box to prevent it being detected on the centre’s security cameras.
The glass door of the MTN shop was cracked. At this store the thieves made off with laptop computers as well as dummy cellphones, according to police.
Workers, locked outside the store as police investigated, said it was the second break-in in recent months.
A security guard, who rushed to the scene after witnessing the men on the centre’s CCTV cameras, had a gun pointed at him.
Centre manager Joseph Parsley said: “Fortunately no shots were fired. These were desperate criminals who specifically targeted the MTN store, despite the security we have in place. We alerted our armed response but when they arrived at the scene, which was before the police, the men had already fled.”
Neither store opened yesterday.
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said they suspected both burglaries were carried out by the same gang. “We have opened a case ... the stores are still conducting their internal investigations so it is not clear what else was stolen and how much the damage will cost.
“We appeal to anyone who might have any information about these incidents to come forward and inform the police,” Mbi said.
The manager of both stores refused to comment, saying she feared they would be targeted again. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
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