Cape woman’s mall robbery terror

Cape Town 140925 Tasneem Essa in the car park at Canal Walk where she was attacked. Photo by Michael Walker

Cape Town 140925 Tasneem Essa in the car park at Canal Walk where she was attacked. Photo by Michael Walker

Published Sep 26, 2014

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Cape Town - A pregnant woman employed at one of Cape Town’s key shopping hubs, Canal Walk, was robbed in its parking lot in broad daylight and dragged almost 20m by robbers in their getaway car.

Tasneem Essa, who is four months pregnant and employed at Bride and Co, said the incident took place a stone’s throw from Entrance 8 about 4pm on Tuesday.

Essa, 22, said a man accosted her and grabbed her cellphone before running towards a getaway car.

The incident was the latest in a string of incidents at shopping malls in the city.

The latest crime figures show robberies in general increased between April 1 last year and March 31.

The SA Council of Shopping Centres is to meet the police next week following a spike in robberies at malls

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Council president Marna van der Walt has said the organisation has noted an increase in robberies at malls and retail shops.

 

“We need to protect the shopping malls, retailers and public,” Van der Walt said.

The council had called for greater visibility of police, while the use of technology and intelligence were on the cards.

“Our ultimate goal is proactively to have all our affairs sorted out where we can continually share intelligence, and make retailers aware of suspicious activities and monitor them.”

The council aims to implement safety plans before the start of the festive season.

 

Essa said there had been no people around when she was robbed.

 

“I was sitting on the island close to the parking lot when I saw this guy’s hands come over my shoulder. He grabbed my cellphone and ran.

“I chased after him and someone in a car that had been parked close by opened the door for him.”

 

Essa managed to grab hold of the man’s arm and shouted at him to give back her phone. But her pleas were ignored and as the man tried to get free of her grip, he pulled her into the car

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“I could see that it was not his intention to pull me into the car – he was trying to escape. At this point I was half-in half-out of the vehicle, part of my arm was inside and my head was barely in. My feet were off the ground with my knee on the seat.

“At that moment I was thinking about my baby. I did not want anything drastic to happen because the car was picking up speed and it had driven a few metres. I just pushed myself out of the car and I fell to the ground.”

The fall had left Essa with bruises on her arms, left thigh and on her body. She also felt pain in her right shoulder, Essa said. The incident took place about 50m from the shop where she worked.

 

A few people who were leaving the mall came to her assistance and it was only then that the alarm was raised and the centre’s security guards came.

Officers from the Milnerton police arrived afterwards.

Essa said they had been told by mall management that the number plate of the vehicle in which the robbers were travelling, a gold Renault with white masking tape on the back window, had been caught on CCTV footage.

There were three other men in the car, besides the robber, and the car had a woman driver, she said.

Canal Walk spokeswoman Vanessa Herbst said the centre’s management was aware of the incident. She said all the CCTV footage had been handed to police. She referred further queries to the Milnerton police.

Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said Milnerton detectives were investigating a case of common robbery. No arrests had been made.

Last Sunday, seven robbers targeted a jewellery store at the Somerset West Mall. Police said five of the robbers kept a lookout while two entered the store. They are still at large.

In August police arrested five robbers after they stole an undisclosed amount of money from a business in the Brackenfell shopping mall.

 

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