Cape Town - A group of thieves embarked on an early morning Christmas shopping spree when they walked right into Canal Walk shopping centre and stole IT equipment worth thousands.
Staff at the gomaxx. store, near Entrance 6, which deals in pre-owned Apple products, said the thieves broke down the door of the store, raided the glass displays and made off with about 16 Apple MacBooks.
According to a source, the crafty crooks simply drove into the popular shopping centre and burgled a store shortly after 5am yesterday.
The source explained that the thieves were in and out of the mall in less than six minutes as they made off with Apple laptops worth thousands.
“They simply just arrived in a white Toyota Quantum taxi and footage shows the driver entering the boom at entrance 6.
“He takes a parking ticket and parks near the entrance as four men get out and enter Canal Walk.
“There is no security on site and they merely go to one of the IT shops, steal the laptops from the display cabinet and place them in a bag and leave.
“The whole incident happened in just six minutes. It was so fast they didn’t even need to pay for the parking ticket and just simply left the shopping centre. Police were later called to the scene.
“The cameras picked up the registration plates and it appears at least one of the plates was fake. They got on to the highway and they were gone, just like that.”
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed the incident and said no arrests were made yet.
“Police registered a business burglary case for investigation, following an incident on Wednesday, at about 5.25am at a cellular telephone shop in a mall in Milnerton. According to reports five unknown males broke into the shop and took an undisclosed amount of electronic devices.
“No arrests have been made and the investigation continues.”
Canal Walk spokesperson Vanessa Herbst said they were aware of the robbery, adding that the thieves damaged the front door of the shop.
“We are aware of the incident. The front door of the store was damaged. It was before trading hours and there were no injuries. We are still busy with the investigation.”
Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen said: “The recent spate of business robberies is deeply alarming. There is an indication that criminals are directly targeting businesses, as they regard them as easy prey.
“As a provincial government, we have actively engaged Business Against Crime, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and various other entities to address matters relating to extortion, burglaries and other related crimes.
“These crimes have a devastating effect on businesses, the creation of job opportunities and people’s general livelihoods.
“I urge businesses to take the necessary steps to safeguard themselves and to work closely with all law enforcement agencies, including SAPS, so that these crimes can be prevented.”
mahira.duval@inl.co.za