Four smartly dressed men robbed a popular store selling high-end cellular phones, computers, and other consumer electronics at a mall in Bloemfontein in broad daylight. Police spokesperson, Chaka Marope, says the robbers, posing as businessmen about to have an executive meeting, entered the store at about 12:30 yesterday.
Marope says one of the men was dressed in a blue suit and smart hat. He had an executive briefcase with him. They went to the customer service counter after which an employee escorted them to the service manager’s office. Marope says once inside the office, the man in the blue suit displayed a firearm on his belt to the manager, ordering him to remain calm and open the safe.
Marope says the same robber who had a briefcase with him, then opened it and took out two empty bags. He packed the high-end cellular phones kept in the safe into the bags. The robbers then ordered the manager to inform his employees in the shop to go to another office. They threatened them not to scream or shots would be fired. Marope says about 200 devices on display were stolen.
According to Marope the robbers exited the shop after putting the bags with stolen devices in a trolley. They went to the parking area and fled the scene in a blue BMW with a Free State registration number.
The mall’s management has not commented yet. – Christal-Lize MullerÂ
