A pampering session at a Buccleuch-based hair salon turned ugly as the shop was robbed by armed criminals, who pretended to be customers.
Kevin, who works at the salon, relayed the harrowing event to the Sandton Chronicle but has chosen not to disclose his surname in order to protect the dignity of the salon’s employees, who are traumatised and undergoing counselling.
Kevin explained, “A couple entered the shop and pretended to be customers, then, once they had scoped out the shop they sent an SMS message and another couple entered the shop. As the second man entered, both men pulled out firearms and forced the staff to the floor. The woman then proceeded to pull out duvet covers from their handbags and emptied all stock on the shelves, into them,” said Kevin. He added that the suspects tied up and physically assaulted a member of staff before escaping in a getaway car. All the events were captured on the CCTV camera system.
He alleged that this was not an isolated incident. “This would be a terrible single event if it were not for the fact that the same crew robbed another salon in Pretoria in exactly the same way,” said Kevin, who claimed to have done some research about these hair salon thieves. “Calling around, we found that another Johannesburg salon was robbed by the same crew last week. This particular salon had heard of a further four hair suppliers that were hit by the same people,” he added.
He said a few of the salon’s suppliers had received outlandish phone calls from an unknown caller with regards to Brazilian hair extensions. “Most of them do not have hair extensions in stock. As soon as they mentioned that they don’t have any in stock, the call ended,” explained Kevin. He is convinced these criminals are after these valuable extensions and Kevin is advising hair salons to deny having stock of these hair pieces if they receive a strange, anonymous telephonic request.
A report was made at the Sandton Police Station by the hair salon. Gauteng police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini looked into this particular case and said, “Police are investigating several incidents of business robberies not only involving hairdressers. Although in this specific incident no one has been arrested and investigations are continuing,” said Dlamini. He is urging the public to report any suspicious vehicles or persons to the police’s emergency number or their nearest police station.
Details: Police emergency number, 10111.
