WATCH: Robbers burned by chilli pepper spray
No goods were stolen during an attempted robbery in Botha's Hill yesterday morning.
ROBBERS were thwarted by a chilli pepper gas alarm during an attempted robbery at H2O in the Sugar Loaf Centre in Botha’s Hill yesterday morning.
The owner of the store, Morné Bothma, said he installed the extra security after his business was robbed on Friday, 6 May. “In the previous robbery there were four men that were involved. They wore balaclavas and gloves and one wore a cap. They cut through the chain on the main door and stole all of the computers, laptops and the TV. None of the stock was taken but all of the electronics were gone. Even our personal laptops were also in the back office. We lost all of our data as they stole our server computer and the backup.”
He was then contacted by Ian Colls, the managing director of Compusafe Electronic Asset Security, and the chilli pepper gas alarm, which is independent of his alarm system, was installed. “I was so cross about the computers that I wanted to do as much as I could to secure the shop again as I knew the new PCs would arrive at the shop a few days later,” said Bothma.
Bothma noted that he was forewarned of another robbery as the criminals would target him again once his insurance company had paid out and new equipment had been installed and set up.
In the most recent robbery, three men arrived at the store front at about 5.53am on Thursday morning. Two wore balaclavas and one of the men wore a cap. They attempted to cut through the chain on the front door with bolt cutters but were unsuccessful. The robbers then used the bolt cutters to smash their way through the glass front door. In the video, the man wearing the cap rushes into the storefront and attempts to pry the TV, behind the main counter, off of the wall but is blasted in the face with the chilli powder gas.
A second man wearing a balaclava enters the shop and heads for the desktop PC behind the main desk, but is unable to remove the tower from its housing. At this stage the store is covered in the gas.
The second robber signals for the man in the cap to leave the store, while covering his mouth. He then runs from the store.
The man wearing the cap continues to try and pull the TV from the wall for a few more seconds before fleeing from the shop. As he turns to leave he is blasted with another spray of the chilli powder gas from behind.
A few seconds later, both men run back into the store but only make it inside a few feet before giving up and retreating.
The third robber never enters the store but stands watch, grabs the bolt cutters while the two men are inside the store and makes his way back to the getaway vehicle. “The locks on the PC towers and the chilli pepper spray saved us. It is not just a five minute job anymore,” said Bothma.
