Greed gets better of dumb thieves

Stakeout nets suspects

Thieves who tried to capitalise on the back-to-school rush by robbing a Johannesburg store selling uniforms and its customers have been arrested.

While their initial plan to rob the store on Tuesday succeeded‚ greed got the better of the group. Seeking to make extra cash, one of the gangsters phoned the husband of a woman whose purse they had stolen‚ asking for “a token of appreciation” for “finding” it.

The savvy man promptly alerted police‚ who set up a stakeout. Captain Xoli Mbele explained the robbery on Tuesday: “The [five] suspects entered the shop [on the corner of Troy and President streets] pretending to be customers,” Mbele said.

“[One suspect] told the husband to come with some cash as a token of appreciation. They made an appointment to meet at a restaurant in the CBD on January 9 and police were alerted.”

After he was caught, the suspect led the police to another accomplice. The two men are aged 33 and 34. –TimesLIVE