Pot plant and an empty wallet: The great dine and dash heist

A combination of bait and brazen deception saw a couple eat for free at a Heidelberg business’ expense.

The Plaashuiswinkel Mediterreens sat with an unpaid bill worth R430 after a cheeky dine-and-dash incident on Friday afternoon.  

Three people allegedly staged a fake flower delivery, as a man and woman feasted on one of the most expensive items on the boutique tea garden’s menu.

Dine and dash

Surveillance footage shows one man entered the premises around 3 pm on 10 January, and was soon followed by a female companion.

While seated, the couple were joined by a third man who dropped off a pot-plant, before leaving shortly after concluding his staged transaction.

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The couple enjoyed drinks, each having a full serving of the establishment’s lasagne with bacon strips and chicken fingers on the side, before the final stage of their deception.

The couple left the pot plant and a wallet on the table as they browsed the boutique, but made their staggered getaway, leaving the items behind.

Inspecting after the couple failed to return, staff found the wallet to be completely empty.

Not reported to police

The establishment posted screenshots of the culprits on social media as a warning to other business owners.

The pot plant does not belong to Plaashuiswinkel Mediterreens, and the staff hope the photos can help in returning the plant to its owners.

However, a senior staff member at the establishment, who preferred not to be named, told The Citizen that the incident had not been reported to police.

The staff member said that there had been previous shoplifting incidents that yielded no significant results after being reported to police, so they have not bothered to do so this time.

Police have repeatedly urged victims of crime to report incidents, as doing so enables police to track trends, patterns and hotspots.

Demotivated business owners

Crime stats released by police for the months between July and September showed that there were 11 056 shoplifting cases and 61 079 cases of general theft registered in South Africa.

Gauteng accounted for 3 522 of the shoplifting cases, 16 669 of the general theft cases registered in those three months.

Plaashuiswinkel Mediterreens was also the scene of an armed robbery in 2023 which led to the closure of the jewellers that operated at the site and the retrenchment of staff.

Having felt the effects of crime on the business, the Plaashuiswinkel staff member told The Citizen that repeats of such incidents risked the jobs of staff and those at other establishments taken advantage of.

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