Cops are hunting for a pregnant woman who uses a child as part of a cellphone theft ring.
|||Cape Town - Cops are hunting for a pregnant woman who uses a child as part of a cellphone theft ring.
The pregnant woman and her accomplice have been caught on surveillance cameras stealing brand-new cellphones from several Cape stores.
The same women have been seen operating with two men and a young girl between the ages of four and six years old.
They have already targeted three franchise stores of a well-known cellular provider.
In a matter of weeks, the thieves were spotted snatching the expensive new Apple iPhone 5 worth more than R8 000 each in Vangate Mall, Longbeach Mall and Waterfront shops.
Their most recent hit was captured on CCTV cameras last week on Tuesday when the women and the little girl were seen in Longbeach Mall.
They are seen standing in front of the iPhone, talking to each other in the store, pretending to be interested customers.
After a few minutes of loitering in the shop the pregnant woman picks up the girl with their backs facing to the security camera.
Minutes later the other woman pretends to be searching for something in her handbag and then quickly puts the phone in her bag.
During this time the little girl is seen looking behind her as if she was told to keep an eye on the shop assistant or look out for security.
They also used a store brochure to cover the empty stand where the stolen phone had been.
A short while later the women walk out, one after the other, with the young girl still watching their backs.
In other footage taken at Vangate Mall the same pregnant woman and child are seen again, this time with two men.
The woman and child stand at the counter distracting the unsuspecting assistant while the men take turns inspecting the phone.
They carefully cut a security cord attached to the phone and the display stand.
The men walk out and casually come back minutes later.
They are seen walking back to the display counter followed by the pregnant woman and the same child.
As they slowly walk past the counter, one of the men quickly grabs the phone and puts it in his pocket.
The three leave the store and head towards the mall’s exit.
The store’s security and operations manager Abie Mayet raised the alarm when he noticed the pregnant woman.
“When we looked at the surveillance I saw that the same woman and the child were in all three [video] footage,” he said.
“I saw the pregnant woman and the child.
“We don’t even know if she really is pregnant or not.”
Abie said none of the alarms went off because they were deactivated at the time.
“The moment they [suspects] cut the cords from the device, the alarm goes off,” he explains.
“When the shop assistant sees no one at the door they deactivate it thinking that the system is faulty.
“During that time they then leave the shop with the phone without activating the alarm.”
Meanwhile, the store owner, who did not want to be identified, fears the thieves could target more shops and other devices.
“We have lost close to R30 000 in three weeks because of this,” he said.
“Before the iPhone it used to be the Samsung S3 devices.
“We sent a warning to our other stores to watch the new Blackberry devices.”
Police spokesperson Captain Fredrick van Wyk said they are investigating the matter.
“Table Bay Harbour police confirmed at the Waterfront shop an iPhone 5 was stolen,” he told the Daily Voice.
Daily Voice