A cellphone recording of CCTV footage showing a bag-snatching incident at the Red Hawk Spur in Plumstead appeared on several social media and in local daily tabloid, the Daily Voice, last week.
In the video a family with a young child are sipping their drinks and appear to be watching TV, at about 6pm, on Thursday July 28.
A woman, sitting at the table behind them, watches the family closely as she slowly inches herself into position behind the targeted handbag and waits to make her move.
The family, with their backs to the snatcher, don’t notice that the woman or her two accomplices, one of whom is heavily pregnant, are watching them. The pregnant accomplice stands at the edge of the table and appears to be keeping watch.
In the one minute video, the snatcher takes a large blue bag out from under the table while keeping an eye on the handbag on the seat.
The woman whose bag is being targeted strokes her hair and nearly bumps the snatcher’s arm as the first snatch attempt is made. A few seconds later, the snatcher painstakingly eases the bag off the seat and quickly passes it to her accomplice who hides it under the table.
The three young women then make quick work of leaving the restaurant, hiding the handbag inside the bigger blue one, as they leave. The management at the Spur declined to comment about the incident.
Diep River police spokesman Warrant Officer Keith Chandler said anyone with information about the incident can contact Warrant Officer Steven Young at 021 710 7342.
* Last week Diep River police arrested 10 people for various crimes including drugs, burglary, theft and the possession of stolen property. Also, a 58-year-old woman who was arrested on drug charges several months ago, after an undercover operation at her home, appeared in court and was found guilty, Warrant Officer Chandler said.
