Repeat hits CITY UNDER SIEGE

Spate of daylight heists Residents in fear as armed robbers target businesses Syndicate feared

ASPATE of armed robberies across East London has business owners on edge. Since the start of the month, 10 city premises have been attacked by armed men – two of them yesterday.

At 5.30pm yesterday, five men, each armed with a 9mm pistol, robbed Prestons Liquor Store in Fleet Street, Quigney. In the morning Mohammad Supermarket in the Oriental Plaza was hit for the second time in two months. Four suspects stormed the store at 8am and made offwith R2 000 from the till.

At Prestons in the evening, the masked thugs forced 10 customers to lie on the ground while they cleared cabinets of fine whiskeys and emptied the safe and tills of cash.

The bottles of alcohol were emptied into large bags.

The Dispatch, on the scene, was told by police officers that 10 minutes after fleeing in a navy Tazz the gang’s driver was arrested near Big Daddies on the Black Road after a high-speed chase by the flying squad. Police were hunting for the others robbers late last night.

Western Gruppe regional manager Nigel Connellan was adamant a syndicate was at work.

The influential local retail group’s popular Spar Tops store in Quigney has been hit twice since October, both times by four gunmen.

“I can tell you we were robbed by the same guys that robbed Berea Pharmacy and Greenfields Prestons,” said Connellan.

East London police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala yesterday said police investigations would reveal if a syndicate was behind the raids. At this stage, there was no evidence of a single syndicate.

Connellan said: “More and more customers are carrying firearms.

“One day they [the robbers] will get shot stone dead.”

In October, Mohammad Supermarket was hit by 16 armed robbers who made off with R65 000 from the store. Customers were bea10 and robbed of cellphones and cash. Yesterday store manager Nur Hossain said: “We are scared in the Plaza because last Saturday it was Sizwe Supermarket at Shop 54, and now it is me.” The robbers remain at large. Mqala said a case of business robbery was being investigated by the Fleet Street police.

She said a case of business robbery was also being investigated after Sizwe Supermarket was robbed on Saturday.

“It is alleged that five African males and one African female robbed the shop of an undisclosed amount of money, groceries, cigarettes, airtime and four cellphones.”

The owner of Sizwe Supermarket, Qiang Yan, 35, said the robbery took less than 10 minutes.

Yan’s uncle, 53-year-old Lin Jin, was rushed to MediCross Clinic to be stitched after he was cracked on the head with the barrel of a pistol. Yan said R15 000 and stock were taken. Yan’s business partner Jia Lin, 30, was forced at gunpoint to help pack the loot into bags, said Yan.

Mqala said police were still searching for four heavily armed men who robbed the Tops store on November 18 at 8.55pm. The suspects overpowered and disarmed two security guards, threa10ed staff and customers before taking cash.

Connellan confirmed yesterday that the Windmill Tops on the beachfront was robbed in September and hit again on November 18. The four robbers fled with cash from the till.

Connellan said the robbers chose the busy Saturday evening with the Patrice Motsepe Christmas With Our People music festival held a few hundred metres away. “They came in the evening before closing time, forced my customers to lie on the floor, threa10ed my staff and walked out with a little amount from the three tills.”

Mqala confirmed that another case of business robbery was being investigated in connection with the robbery of the Beachfront Lounge on the Esplanade.

Mqala said the robbery took place on Wednesday at 10.30pm. Two men armed with one firearm robbed the store of an undisclosed sum of money before speeding off in a white Toyota Corolla.

● A 29-year-old man was arrested by Kei Bridge police after a store robbery in the area on Monday. Two suspects got away.

Captain Siphokazi Mawisa, of the SAPS, said: “Yesterday [Monday] afternoon Kei Road Police members were on patrol when they received a complaint about a shop that was being robbed in their area.

“It is alleged that three African males entered the shop and had a shotgun and a pistol. They demanded money and hit the owner on the head with the shotgun. The complainant’s wife was at the house. She saw the action and immediately called the police. Kei Road police members quickly responded and met the three suspects leaving the shop with stolen items. They managed to get one suspect aged 29 from Ndakana Location, Stutterheim. “The other two ran away. “All the stolen items were confiscated from the suspect, including money. A shotgun was also recovered,” said Mawisa, adding that “the suspect is linked with a hijacking and armed robbery that occurred in the Kei Road area at the beginning of this month”.

Mawiza said: “He was charged for possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of stolen property.

“The suspect will appear in the King William’s Town Magistrate’s Court soon.”

Captain Ntsikelelo Bangani, the station commander at Kei Road, thanked his officers for their quick response that led to the arrest of the suspect. — Additional reporting by Tyler Riddin