Thieves steal watches from Gateway iStore
The suspects made off with merchandise from the Umhlanga store valued at R31 500.
DURBAN North SAPS are looking for three men who allegedly stole 20 Fitbit watches from the iStore at Gateway on Sunday. The men are captured on CCTV footage blatantly placing the fitness tracking watches, valued at more than R1 500 each, into a plastic bag. The theft occurred on Sunday afternoon at the busy high-end store – the total value of items taken was R31 600, confirmed Capt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for the Durban North SAPS.
The brazen thieves tried a similar tactic the next day but were spotted by mall security. A foot chase ensued and the suspects managed to get away when they reached the underground parking.
“In the first video, the men are seen taking the items of the rack and storing them in a shelf, while a third man, dressed in a suit, stands just off camera. He then pretends to be talking to his accomplice who nonchalantly bends down and starts loading the packets with the merchandise.
“The men are then interrupted by a customer who picks up one of the items which was meant for the bag. The suspects continue to peruse the store pretending to be customers. They come back a little while later and brazenly takes an entire rack of FitBit watches and puts them in the plastic bag before hastily leaving the store,” he said.
Deokaran has urged anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects to contact Det Vis Moodley on 083 660 8111.
***Please note we’ve had to remove the videos due to a security issue between the store and the SAPS. Sorry for the inconvenience.***
