Members of the East London flying squad stormed into an East London fish shop on Saturday morning following a reported armed robbery.
The only problem was that the incident had taken place the day before.
Bright Blue Fisheries owner Chris Whaling said yesterday that four armed men had entered his North End establishment on Friday afternoon demanding money and cellphones from staff.
Whaling said the incident occurred at 5.15pm as he was closing up after a busy day.
He said one of the men assaulted him on the head repeatedly using a firearm, for which he later received stitches.
“The other guys just got hold of all my staff and started punching and kicking them. At some point the guy who was assaulting me threatened to shoot me.
“A shot was fired just close to my head. We were all scared for our lives right then,” said Whaling.
The men demanded the hard drive for the CCTV cameras.
“The guys knew that the whole thing was being recorded. They spent a good 30 minutes in the store, luckily there were no customers around,” said Whaling.
He said when the men fled he called Fleet Street police station but was allegedly told officers could not attend to the complaint as they were all busy.
“I then asked Beacon Bay police to come and assist us but they told me that it fell under Fleet Street. I called Cambridge police and they told me the same story,” said Whaling.
He said he locked up and went straight to Life St Dominic’s hospital where he was treated for his injuries, and was able to return to work on Saturday.
“Shortly after opening, a flying squad vehicle came rushing up to my shop with the officers ready to shoot saying they had heard about an armed robbery in progress,” said Whaling.
“I told them that they were late as the incident had happened the day before.”
He said the officers then left and he went to Fleet Street police station to open a business robbery case.
East London police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mtati Tana confirmed a case had been opened.
“The allegations about non-attendance of complaints are taken seriously and as a result East London cluster is investigating this,” said Tana. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
Police arrive at ‘robbery in progress’ a day late
The only problem was that the incident had taken place the day before.
Bright Blue Fisheries owner Chris Whaling said yesterday that four armed men had entered his North End establishment on Friday afternoon demanding money and cellphones from staff.
Whaling said the incident occurred at 5.15pm as he was closing up after a busy day.
He said one of the men assaulted him on the head repeatedly using a firearm, for which he later received stitches.
“The other guys just got hold of all my staff and started punching and kicking them. At some point the guy who was assaulting me threatened to shoot me.
“A shot was fired just close to my head. We were all scared for our lives right then,” said Whaling.
The men demanded the hard drive for the CCTV cameras.
“The guys knew that the whole thing was being recorded. They spent a good 30 minutes in the store, luckily there were no customers around,” said Whaling.
He said when the men fled he called Fleet Street police station but was allegedly told officers could not attend to the complaint as they were all busy.
“I then asked Beacon Bay police to come and assist us but they told me that it fell under Fleet Street. I called Cambridge police and they told me the same story,” said Whaling.
He said he locked up and went straight to Life St Dominic’s hospital where he was treated for his injuries, and was able to return to work on Saturday.
“Shortly after opening, a flying squad vehicle came rushing up to my shop with the officers ready to shoot saying they had heard about an armed robbery in progress,” said Whaling.
“I told them that they were late as the incident had happened the day before.”
He said the officers then left and he went to Fleet Street police station to open a business robbery case.
East London police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mtati Tana confirmed a case had been opened.
“The allegations about non-attendance of complaints are taken seriously and as a result East London cluster is investigating this,” said Tana. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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