Brazen daylight robbery at Pinetown shopping centre prompts police investigation
The armed robbers can be seen instructing Durban Metro Police to leave the scene during the robbery in Pinetown.
Image: Screengrab of video
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial police have confirmed that police are investigating a brazen armed robbery at a shopping centre in Pinetown on Monday.
Videos of the alarming incident have gone viral on social media. In one of the videos, men wearing balaclavas and armed with rifles are seen removing boxes from a trolley and loading them into a white vehicle in the parking lot of the centre as other vehicles are driving past. The robbery took place reportedly at Pinecrest centre.
In another video, a Metro Police car is seen driving past the scene after the heavily armed suspects point their weapons at them and instruct the officer/s to continue driving.
Police confirmed on Tuesday that they are investigating the incident, which took place on Monday morning.
According to KwaZulu-Natal SAPS spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda, "Police in KwaZulu-Natal are searching for an unconfirmed number of suspects who robbed a courier vehicle and disarmed a security guard who was escorting it at a mall in Pinetown on Monday morning.
“Reports indicate that employees of a courier company were delivering parcels at the mall when they were ambushed by a group of armed suspects who demanded the parcels, disarming an escorting security guard in the process. The suspects fled the scene in a white sedan,” said Netshiunda.
The brazen nature of the robbery, carried out in broad daylight and in the presence of shoppers, has sparked concern about rising crime levels in busy commercial centres ahead of the festive season.