Search for robbery suspect has surprise ending

On 10 January, a jewellery shop inside an unnamed mall in northern Johannesburg experienced an armed robbery, according to 7Arrows Security company, Fourways Review reports.

“We could see that the suspect was driving a red, older model VW Golf from the mall’s CCTV footage,” explained Elyse Golovey of the company.

READ MORE: Armed robbery at jewellery store in Mall of the South

The 7Arrows Security Crime Intervention Unit did some investigation into the crime and managed to trace the suspect to a house in Tembisa, which they observed for several days in the hope that the suspect would return. Unfortunately, the suspect was nowhere to be found.

Finally, on the night of 16 January, the 7Arrows team visited the house and noted that the red Golf was parked inside the yard. The police were called to the scene, where they were joined by the security company in approaching the house.

The suspect’s grandmother answered the door and informed the officers that her grandchild had died that very morning of natural causes. His death certificate was shown to the officers as proof, and only the vehicle used in the crime was recovered.

7Arrows Security has done an analysis of criminal modus operandi (MO) incidents affecting their clients. The most common MO is that suspects masquerade as shoppers before committing a business robbery.

“To this end, front office staff should be trained to look out for suspicious behaviour,” said Jason Mordecai, the director of 7Arrows Security.

“We urge all shoppers to be vigilant at all times as criminals look for opportunities to attack while you are least suspecting it and take advantage of your distraction. If you feel something is suspicious, trust your gut and call it in.

“We are very proud of our officers being able to use such investigative skills to track this suspect down, we pride ourselves on effective training to assist officers and our teams to get the job done using intelligence and strong investigative skills.”

Details: 7Arrows Security 010 140 7777

Armed robbery at jewellery store in Mall of the South