UPDATE, 23 July, 2pm:
Warrant Officer Balan Muthan, head of communications for the Douglasdale Police Station said garage robberies have increased of late.
He has a theory that it may be because criminals who had previously targeted garages and were sent to prison, have now served their time and are going back to their old ways.
Muthan said since the robbery the Douglasdale police have warned all garages in the Douglasdale policing area to be extra cautious and to also keep less than R1 000 in their tills at any given time.
UPDATE: 22 July, 4pm:
New details have emerged about the death of a man during an armed robbery in Bryanston on the morning of 22 July.
The victim (42) was shot at 10am near a construction site on Main Road by two men, who robbed him of cash and a bag with his personal belongings then fled the scene in a silver Toyota Yaris.
A friend of the victim, who wanted to remain anonymous, confirmed that the victim worked at the Engen garage on the corner of Main Road and William Nicol Drive. However, the victim’s friend said that he was actually the manager of the garage and contrary to conflicting reports, the victim was not carrying a large sum of money to bank on behalf of the garage but was rather walking to Nicolway shopping centre to get change when he was approached by the two suspects. The victim’s friend is the owner of another Engen garage further down Main Road, and said that the staff of both garages are distraught because the victim was “like a father to them”.
“He was a wonderful guy,” the victim’s friend said. “The staff of the garages are broken and in tears.”
22 July, 1.30pm:
According to Provincial police spokesperson, Captain Augustinah Phelebe, the robbery took place at 10am. The victim was an employee of the garage and was on his way to bank money on behalf of the garage.
He was approached by two suspects while on his way to bank the money at Nicolway Mall. The suspects shot the man and fled the scene with the cash. The suspects allegedly fled the scene in a Toyota Yaris.
Captain Phelebe said the victim died on the scene after sustaining multiple gunshots to his upper body.
A student of Greenwich College, which is located across the road from the garage, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that he got a shock when he heard three loud gunshots from across the road on the morning of 22 July.
