Armed robbers escaped with millions of rands worth of watches in Pretoria, South Africa, during the weekend, Pretoria News reported. The seven-member gang reportedly hit the Brooklyn Mall taking an estimated ZAR 2 million (about $198,000) in watches from Grieg and Meinke jewelry store. They were wearing motorbike helmets and carried an assault rifle and hammers to smash through the store. The theft came shortly after another gang attacked RSA Diamonds at Woodlands Boulevard in Garsfontein, holding up staff before fleeing with cell phones, jewelry and personal belongings, Pretoria News said. The two, possibly unrelated, attacks are believed to have collectively netted the gangs nearly ZAR 3 million ($298,000) in jewelry, it added.A gang of heavily armed robbers on motorbikes on Sunday made off with millions of rands worth of watches and jewellery in one of Pretoria's most daring robberies.The theft of an estimated R2-million in jewellery from Grieg and Meinke jewellery store in Brooklyn Mall by the gang early in the morning has left shopping centre management and police shocked by the audacity of the attack.The attack saw seven men wearing motorbike helmets and carrying an assault rifle and hammers, smash their way into the store just before 10am.The theft came shortly after another gang attacked RSA Diamonds at Woodlands Boulevard in Garsfontein, holding up staff before fleeing off with cellphones, jewellery and personal belongings.The attacks are believed to have collectively netted the gangs nearly R3-million in jewellery.While the thugs who attacked Brooklyn Mall were able to get into the centre, break into the store and then get away scot-free within 10 minutes, security guards swarmed around a Pretoria News team in less than three minutes of the photographer and reporter entering the shopping centre in an effort to speak to shoppers, staff and to photograph the smashed windows.Guards were unable to explain why reporters were stopped within minutes of arriving at the mall, yet the robbers got away unchallenged.The Pretoria News team eventually went back into the centre and took pictures with a cellphone camera and got away undetected while a security guard stationed near the barricaded-off crime scene, spoke to someone on a cellphone for about 10 minutes. Shoppers, who notified the Pretoria News about the robbery, said the attack had been like a whirlwind.Said a centre employee: "They came rushing in. They were everywhere all at once. Some were smashing at the shop windows while others were standing guard."They were wearing helmets so you could not see their faces. They grabbed jewellery in the windows and then fled on their motorbikes.
"It was over within minutes."More than 30 jewellery stores are believed to have been hit in Gauteng's malls this year, including Fourways Mall, Sandton City, East Rand Mall and Eastgate, with a number of attacks also occurring in Brooklyn and Garsfontein.One of the year's biggest jewellery robberies occurred in September at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, where an estimated R4-million in jewellery was stolen.According to police the sudden spiral in attacks on jewellery stores across Gauteng over the past couple of months show that gangs are now turning their attention to "softer targets" such as jewellery stores, especially as the festive season approached.The gangs are believed to be linked to international crime syndicates which put out special "shopping lists" for highly sought after items such as watches. The Jewellery Council and the Diamond Council, according to earlier media reports, believe that the attacks are showing similarities to the highly organised cash-in-transit heists. Inspector Klaas van der Kooi, confirming Sunday's two attacks, said the robbery at Woodlands Boulevard took place first."A gang of four gunmen entered RSA Diamonds and held up staff, taking cellphones and personal belongings along with a large amount of jewellery which they snatched from the showcases," he said.He added that the men fled in a Green Toyota Cressida which was found abandoned close to the centre."The car was stolen in Sunnyside earlier in November," he said.Commenting on the robbery at Brooklyn Mall, Van der Kooi said the gang arrived at the centre on "superbikes"."With their helmets still on, the robbers, who were armed with a rifle and hammers, rushed to the store and smashed open windows before they grabbed jewellery, the majority of which were watches.
"The robbers then put their loot into bags and fled from the centre on their motorbikes," he said, adding that the bikes were last seen travelling at "high speed" on the N1 towards Johannesburg.