Thief drops her cellphone

2008-04-09 10:06

André Damons

Johannesburg - After a bag of cellphones had been stolen from a cellphone shop in Germiston on Tuesday, a woman dropped her own cellphone containing photographs which might help the police - as soon as it can be reported to them.

This woman formed part of a group of two men and two women suspected to have robbed a bag full of repaired cellphones from a Vodacom shop in the new Lambton Court shopping centre in Lambton, near Germiston on the East Rand, minutes before closing time on Monday.

It was claimed that she leant over the counter and grabbed the bag.

Deon Moens, owner of the Cell Shack shop, said he had kept the shop open to catch up on business hours lost during a power cut between 15:00 until about 17:20. He was alone when the incident took place.

'Nobody did a thing'

"Two of the thieves kept me busy at the demo display cabinet and asked a number of questions. When I suspected something was wrong and turned around, a woman grabbed the yellow MTN plastic bag containing at least 15 cellphones, pushed it into her handbag and began running."

The woman dropped her cellphone. According to Moens he ran after the thieves and shouted at the centre's security guards to stop the thieves. However, nobody did a thing.

The thieves jumped into a white VW Golf in the parking area and drove away.

Moens now hopes the photographs on the woman's cellphone may assist the police in apprehending the thieves.

Moens said he had waited for about three hours before the police arrived and by late on Monday afternoon could still not open a case because he did not have the IMEI numbers of the cellphones.

Captain Steady Nawa, police spokesperson, could not confirm the incident. He said Moens did not need the specific numbers in order to open a case.

- Beeld