Four armed men carried out a daring midmorning jewellery store robbery at Vincent Park yesterday, making off with an undisclosed amount of jewellery and cash.
The incident comes on the back of a recent warning by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) of an expected increase in business robberies leading up to, and including, the festive season.
Five employees, a security guard and two customers at Dennis Collins Jewellers on the centre’s upper level were held at gunpoint by two armed robbers who entered the shop at about 10am.
When the Dispatch arrived on the scene yesterday, employees from other stores in the mall were still shaken by the incident.
NWJ jewellery store workers locked themselves inside their shop.
Megan Brownie, who works for an optometrist, said the robbers had carried out the operation “quietly and quickly” and no one had heard or suspected anything.
Vincent Park centre manager Joseph Parsley was recently quoted in the Dispatch saying he was concerned that armed criminals being driven out of Gauteng, may look for perceived softer targets in other areas of the country.
Parsley said at the time: “We all know armed robbery is on the increase. In most cases attacks are well planned and well executed”.
Parsley said yesterday they were in the process of beefing up security at the centre to avoid robberies.
“We don’t know if we will ever be able to stop crime completely from happening – criminals are criminals. However, we do our best to minimise the risk and exposure to such incidents,” he said.
“By next month, we should have the new technology and going into the festive season we usually increase our security anyway.”
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said they were investigating a case of armed robbery and were searching for four suspects estimated to be in their 30s. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
Robbers hit mall jewellers
The incident comes on the back of a recent warning by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) of an expected increase in business robberies leading up to, and including, the festive season.
Five employees, a security guard and two customers at Dennis Collins Jewellers on the centre’s upper level were held at gunpoint by two armed robbers who entered the shop at about 10am.
When the Dispatch arrived on the scene yesterday, employees from other stores in the mall were still shaken by the incident.
NWJ jewellery store workers locked themselves inside their shop.
Megan Brownie, who works for an optometrist, said the robbers had carried out the operation “quietly and quickly” and no one had heard or suspected anything.
Vincent Park centre manager Joseph Parsley was recently quoted in the Dispatch saying he was concerned that armed criminals being driven out of Gauteng, may look for perceived softer targets in other areas of the country.
Parsley said at the time: “We all know armed robbery is on the increase. In most cases attacks are well planned and well executed”.
Parsley said yesterday they were in the process of beefing up security at the centre to avoid robberies.
“We don’t know if we will ever be able to stop crime completely from happening – criminals are criminals. However, we do our best to minimise the risk and exposure to such incidents,” he said.
“By next month, we should have the new technology and going into the festive season we usually increase our security anyway.”
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said they were investigating a case of armed robbery and were searching for four suspects estimated to be in their 30s. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
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