Cellphone snatched

A man, aged 85, called the Mossel Bay Advertiser to say his cellphone had been snatched from him while he was in the Ackermans store in the Mosselbaai Mall in Heiderand.

"I want people to be aware of this," Johann Briel said. It happened on Friday, 12 October at about 12:00.

"I went into the store. I was looking for a jacket and there was a very narrow passage and lots of people moving and behind me was a tall black man.

"From the other side, coming towards me were two males. They bumped me."

"The two men from the front squashed me in suddenly. Then they were off.

"When I came out and went to another shop and wanted to use my phone, I realised it was missing.

"I went to Ackermans again because I was short of a phone and needed to make a call. I told the manager what had happened."

Briel opened a case with the Mossel Bay police on Tuesday, 16 October, and has a case number. His stolen cellphone is a Samsung and a goldish colour.

He is unable to describe the three men who were in the Ackermans store, except to say they were tall and black.

Briel said: "Before I entered Ackermans I saw three men standing a few steps apart from each other. It seems as if they followed me into Ackermans."

Statement

An Ackermans spokesperson said a statement: "The wellbeing of our customers and staff remains our primary concern. We are, unfortunately, unable to supply further comment at this stage relating to the allegations, as we are still gathering further information.

"The store is located in a mall that has on-site security and as far as we are aware, this is the first alleged incident of this kind which has occurred in this store.

"Having more than 700 stores, we recognise the safety of our customers to be paramount. We are continuously assessing our security measures and will make any adjustments we find to be necessary to continue to ensure the safety and security of our customers."