Three teenagers were arrested in Southfield minutes after they robbed a cafe.
In another incident, an armed robber was caught shortly after robbing a shop in Plumstead. Both robberies took place in Victoria Road and all four arrests came about after a joint operation between police, neighbourhood watches and security companies, Warrant Officer Keith Chandler of Diep River police said.
“We are very fortunate to have this working relationship where they pick up on these incidents on the community radio,” he said.
On Friday, three boys from Parkwood, all in their late teens, robbed a cafe in Victoria Road just before 11pm. The oldest was 19.
The neighbourhood watch spotted the boys and chased them through Southfield. They were caught and detained until police arrived. Police retrieved two fire-arms as well as all the stolen cash.
On Monday morning, a man in his early twenties robbed a shop in Plumstead. Neighbourhood watch members chased and caught him. Security companies detained the man until police arrived.
Warrant Officer Chandler said the recent thefts were unrelated to another store robbery in Main Road, Plumstead, a few weeks ago (“Armed robbers target Plumstead shop,” Bulletin July 14).
“We think these were opportunistic crimes,” he said. “The others cased the place first.”
Other differences were that the recent robberies were all perpetrated by young men on foot while the robbery two weeks ago was by older men with a vehicle.
