Police in Pretoria are investigating a case of armed robbery after six suspects stormed a car dealership in Gezina yesterday.

Local police spokesperson Warrant Officer Johan van Dyk says the suspects demanded employees lie down and made off with an undisclosed amount in cash.

“Out of the six men, four of them were armed. Police are following up all the leads at the moment that will lead to the arrest of the suspects. A case of armed robbery has been opened for this incident,” adds Van Dyk.

According to police, the suspects also made off with six cars from the garage.

Of these, police could only identify, a gold Kia Picanto, a black Renault Clio, a white Polo Vivo, and a silver Audi A3.

Asked if dealerships in the area were prone to being targeted, Van Dyk says the area is fairly quiet, adding that police have never recorded such an incident before.

“This is an isolated incident and the first time it happened.”

He asks members of the public who might have any information that would assist the police with the investigation to come forward.

Van Dyk, however, cautions residents not to approach these suspects, as they are heavily armed and are deemed dangerous.

The robbery comes against the backdrop of the announcement by Minister of Police Bheki Cele that there has been an increase in violent crimes.

During the announcement of the second quarter crime statistics, Cele acknowledged that these did not paint a positive picture of the crime situation in the country.

At the time, the minister said his department was pushing back against criminality, and there has been a significant improvement in the number of crimes being detected across South Africa, although the statistics were showing worrying increases.