ARMED robbers held up two men at an Umbilo business and locked them in an onsite safe last week.
Blue Security operations manager Brian Jackson said the gang of four armed robbers had held up the men as they were opening up the business premises in Gale Street at 6.45am.
“The robbers were armed with a firearm and a knife and forced the men into an onsite walk-in safe where they locked them in. The robbers fled with a laptop, a cellphone and a pellet gun,” he said.
Fortunately, a staff member had a spare key for the safe and released the men. There were no injuries reported.
Umbilo SAPS were called to the scene.
Jackson advised business owners to be vigilant when opening and closing their premises.
“Our crime statistics show that prime times that criminals target businesses are when staff and owners arrive in the mornings and also when they are busy locking up. Always check that there are no suspicious vehicles or individuals lurking near your premises before you open and rather take a drive around the block if you are concerned about any unusual activity. If the individuals have not moved away when you return, alert the police and your security company to patrol or give you an escort,” he said.
Jackson advised business owners to be vigilant when conducting banking as there had been several incidents in recent weeks where staff were followed from the bank and robbed of large sums of cash at their premises.
