SAPS
Three suspects are in custody after being arrested shortly after a business robbery at a clothing store in the Baywest Mall in Gqeberha.
Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg says two suspects entered the store on Sunday morning pretending to be customers and were then joined by four more suspects with firearms.
As the complainant went to the back of the store to fetch a pair of takkies for the ‘customer’, he was followed by a suspect who pulled out a firearm
They held up three employees, demanded the keys to the safe and shop and ransacked the store.
Captain Sandra Janse Van Rensburg says a police officer who was on duty at the mall spotted the suspects fleeing with a duvet stuffed with clothing and immediately alerted his colleagues at the 10111 Centre.
The suspects fled in a silver VW Polo and a Silver Kia, which was later cornered in Hammerkop Street in Cotswold extension.
One suspect was arrested in the yard of a nearby house and two others were flushed out of nearby bushes by the four-legged K9 officer, Diesel.
No firearm was recovered however various items of the stolen clothing, estimated at R200 000 in value, were found in the boot of the car.
The silver VW Polo was found abandoned on the N2 freeway on-ramp towards Cotswold.
The three suspects aged between 25 and 35 were detained on charges of business robbery and will appear in the Gqeberha magistrate court during the week.
