Gravity floors midnight robber
A man will spend Christmas in police custody after his humorously failed attempted robbery
MBOMBELA – It is not known if he had a bad ceiling that his plan would go horribly wrong, but a robber ‘s luck let him down when he attempted to rob Crossing SUPERSPAR early this morning. He fell through the ceiling and landed with a thud on the floor. The impact knocked him unconscious.
CCTV footage shows the man falling from the ceiling in front of the tobacconist kiosk at 01:10.
The managers of the supermarket believe the man moved the ceiling tiles to access the tobacconist but did not realise the ceiling would give way when he stood on it.
He fell about four metres.
A female manager, Cindy Coetzee, was working night shift in the front of the shop when she heard the commotion. She pressed the panic button as soon as he fell to summon the security guards on duty. As the burglar was lying on the floor Coetzee ran toward the front door to open for security services, who took the unconscious man into custody.
“Security and the police were here in seconds,” said one manager. “We are just glad the man was unconscious when the baker came running out or he probably would have taken her hostage.”
The SUPERSPAR’s managers believe the man wanted to steal cigarettes because they are easy to transport and sell for cash.
The man was not armed.
He has been arrested and will appear in court on charges on attempted robbery later this week.
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