Hawks investigating Eastern Cape cash-in-transit heist

A shopping centre in Newton Park was closed on Monday afternoon shortly after a cash-in-transit vehicle was robbed in the parking lot.

Information about the incident, which happened at about lunchtime at the centre on the corner of Cape Road and Fourth Avenue, is still limited, but customers were turned away as most of the shops closed their doors after the incident.

A security guard at the gate to the centre, who was turning motorists away, confirmed the robbery.

Police officials, including the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), were on the scene.

Most of the activity seemed to centre around an armoured van parked outside the main entrances of Pick n Pay and a Capitec Bank branch.

However, another smaller armoured vehicle was parked nearby, inside the cordoned off area of the centre’s parking lot.

Hawks spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said she could not comment on the matter until she received an incident report from officers on the scene.

A cashier at one of the shops in the centre said she saw some commotion outside their doors, but was unsure what had happened.

“It must have been over very quickly. I didn’t really see or hear anything.

“Only when the security came and told me there was a robbery did I realise what had happened.

“The next moment ,the police were  all over the place,” she said.

HeraldLIVE