JEWELLERY stores around the country have become targets for gangs of thugs.
Just on Sunday a store selling expensive jewellery was robbed when a heavily armed gang stormed a mall in the Vaal.
But in this case, the thugs’ stealing spree ended when they were all arrested.
Police say the group gained entry to the American Swiss store at the Vaal Mall and stole jewellery worth over R600 000.
One of the suspects was shot and wounded by a security guard during the incident. He was admitted to the Sebokeng Hospital, where he is kept under police guard. Police managed to recover all of the stolen goods. Speaking to Daily Sun, police spokeswoman Sergeant Gertrude Makhale said the robbery happened in the evening and the suspects were arrested. She said security guards at the mall alerted the police about the robbery.
“Police arrived at the scene. Gunfire was exchanged and one suspect was shot. Three other suspects were arrested and are currently detained at Vanderbijlpark Police Station. They will appear in court soon,” she said.
- In October, jewellery worth thousand of rands was stolen from a shop in the Mall of the South, Joburg. Three armed men had held up staff at the Browns outlet at gunpoint, said Colonel Lungelo Dlamini. They fired shots as they ran through the mall to make their getaway. Nobody was hurt and the thugs are still at large.
- KZN police are investigating the possibility of a syndicate as the manhunt continues for the so called “Hammer Gang” that robbed a popular jewellery store in Durban earlier this year.
Two men had entered the jewellery shop at Musgrave Centre, armed with firearms and hammers, smashing the display glass and fleeing the scene with jewellery worth over R1 million. Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said: “We appeal to owners of jewellery stores to take extra precautions and extend or increase their security measures.”
