Gang of bikers hit mall

2008-11-23 16:09

Pretoria - Two Pretoria jewellery stores were robbed within the space of an hour on Sunday morning, police said.

Four armed men held employees at a jeweller in Woodlands Boulevard, Garsfontein at gunpoint shortly after 09:00, said Inspector Klaas van der Kooi.

"They took cellphones and other personal belongings as well as jewellery out of the showcases and fled in a green Toyota Cressida."

The car was later found abandoned on Atterbury Road.

At 10:00 between five and seven men on motorcycles, armed with at least one assault rifle and hammers, parked outside the Brooklyn Mall.

They walked into the mall wearing their helmets and smashed the display window of the Greig and Meinke store on the second floor.

"They grabbed watches and other expensive items and stuffed them into bags."

They fled the scene on their bikes and were last seen driving towards Johannesburg on the N1 highway.

Van der Kooi said it did not appear as if the two crimes were linked.

"It doesn't look as if it's the same [gang]."

The value of the jewellery taken was not yet known. No arrests had been made in either of the robberies.

- SAPA