Picture: iStock
Ten men were arrested in connection with a bizarre attack on the Toy Shop luxury car dealership in Cape Town last month.
The suspects, aged 22 to 47, appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday and will remain in custody until their bail hearing on 8 March.
“The suspects were arrested in tracing operations executed over the weekend. They are facing business robbery, malicious damage to property and extortion charges,” police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said.
WATCH: Suspects damage luxury vehicles at Cape Town dealership
The court heard that some of the men have other charges against them.
According to eyewitness accounts, several men entered the dealership and demanded two vehicles, but they were turned away.
A group of 40 men returned seconds later and damaged eight cars.
CCTV footage shows a large group of men smashing the windows of a number of expensive supercars and attacking staff.
The attack happened in less than a minute.
Before it ended, another assailant – wearing an orange hoodie – entered the dealership, cornered two staff members and demanded their valuables while an accomplice held the employees at gunpoint.
The attack sparked a string of rumours and a storm of speculation about why a group of men would suddenly approach a dealership requesting luxury cars for free, only to then damage the vehicles seemingly without provocation.
READ MORE: R10 million – The estimated value of the damaged Cape Town luxury cars
The nature of the incident also raised questions about possible links to Cape Town’s underworld, which uses security services as one of its main income streams.
News24 discovered several men linked to the dealership have had previous brushes with the law after visiting the business the day after the attack.
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