Another customer has come forward claiming to be a victim of pickpocketing at Pick n Pay in Killarney Mall.
This following the article, Alleged pickpocketing at the supermarket, published Week ending 1 July, about an alleged attempted pickpocketing incident where a Killarney resident, Cherrie de Montille, claimed two people had tried to steal her purse by distracting her while she shopped.
Cheryl Sack, another resident in the area, alleged she was pickpocketed by a man and a woman at the same Pick n Pay about three months ago.
“The woman had taken my cellphone out of my bag,” said Sack.
“Luckily we caught the man who was with the woman, and had him locked up at the mall security office until he got the phone back.”
According to Sack, the woman disappeared with her cellphone and mall security officers threatened to call the police unless the man in their custody co-operated with getting the cellphone back.
“He started crying and phoned the woman to bring the phone back,” said Sack.
“An hour later his brother arrived at the mall with the cellphone.”
Another concerned customer, Sandra Ellis, came forward saying that sometimes there were suspicious individuals walking around the aisles of the hypermarket on their cellphones.
She said she once felt that she was being followed by one of these individuals and alerted the store manager. “They [suspicious individuals] did not purchase anything so what were they doing in the store?” she asked.
According to Ellis, the store’s manager said they had increased the number of security personnel in the supermarket to ensure the safety of customers.
In a statement, Killarney Mall said they were working closely with Pick n Pay to ensure the safety and security of their shopper’s belongings.
“We would like to assure customers that their safety is top priority and any incidents of this nature are taken seriously and investigated accordingly,” read the statement. “We encourage reports of such a nature to be brought to our attention so that the appropriate action can be taken.”
Tamra Veley, Pick n Pay spokesperson said they were pleased that Sack recovered her cellphone. Veley said as Pick ‘n Pay they strived to maintain the highest level of security in their stores nationwide.
“Our advice is that customers keep a vigilant eye on their belongings wherever they are as crimes of this nature can occur in a number of locations and are not isolated to Pick n Pay stores,” said the spokesperson. “Our Killarney store is especially vigilant in light of the two recent pickpocket incidents and we assure customers that their security is our number one priority.”
