ADAM SEGE
Shoppers at Cresta Shopping Centre should watch their wallets and be particularly wary of would-be women thieves, say two Joburg residents after falling victim to crime inside the mall.
When one of the victims reported a mugging to mall security, an officer there said there had been 15 similar incidents on the same day, the victim said. Mall security have not confirmed the 15 incidents to The Star.
On a Saturday afternoon last month, Cheryl Maistry headed to Cresta with her son and mother-in-law for a shopping trip. While at Jet, they stopped behind a large pillar inside the store that blocked the view of the store’s cameras and security officers. In an instant, three women surrounded them.
When the woman in the middle demanded their valuables, Maistry was stunned. But when Maistry hesitated, the woman lifted three-year-old Mikael out of the trolley.
“She didn’t even need a weapon, because she was holding my child,” said Maistry, 37. When Maistry reached towards her son, the woman took a step backwards.
As Mikael cried hysterically, Maistry and her mother-in-law handed over their valuables, even slipping off their wedding rings and ripping charms off their necklaces.
After about four intense minutes, the woman holding Maistry’s son put him down and the robbers walked out of the store.
Jet confirmed that an incident took place and said it was investigating what happened.
Back in January, Isobel Oxley, 75, was shopping at Cresta’s Checkers supermarket when a woman asked for help reaching some tissue boxes. As Oxley reached across her trolley to help, she exposed her handbag.
Oxley handed over the tissues, and the woman walked off and she lost sight of her.
After noticing that her handbag felt lighter, Oxley quickly checked for her wallet. It was gone.
Stunned, Oxley burst into tears.
Since her wallet is too big to hide easily, Oxley suspects the woman handed it to an accomplice waiting at the end of the aisle.
The Checkers chain acknowledged the incident, but said “it isn’t aware of a high incidence of theft from customers in this branch”.
When asked about their assailants’ physical appearances, Maistry and Oxley each described young, heavy-set women.
Maistry said she had heard of two other thefts by women.
Staff at Jet told her that a man was recently robbed in their shoe section. Mall security told her of an incident where a 15-year-old was robbed outside one of the mall’s bathrooms, Maistry said.
Maistry’s mother-in-law’s handbag turned up at the Campus Square mall last week. Documents inside included IDs from two strangers, Maistry said.
Cresta management said police and security officials were investigating the incident Maistry had reported, but did not believe it was related to others.
“The safety of mall customers is a priority for Cresta’s owners and management and, as such, these reports are treated very seriously and investigated thoroughly to establish the facts,” said Cresta general manager Robin Naicker.
Linden police are investigating the report Maistry filed
.