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NATIONAL NEWS & VIDEOS - Block KK residents apparently believe a cash-in-transit heist, which happened in their area last Thursday, was a blessing and like “manna from heaven”.
Or money from heaven in this case, as residents were seen looting the damaged cash-in-transit vehicle, while the robbers managed to flee the scene with an undisclosed amount of money.
“Money was all over and we just helped ourselves to it,” community members said.
Police said a security vehicle was forced off the road by a white Honda Ballade at a four-way stop and the security vehicle crashed into a wall.
“An unknown number of robbers used explosives to blow up the van,” said police spokesperson Brenda Moridili.
“A guard was shot in the stomach and taken to hospital for medical attention.”
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Residents told Rekord that police “took forever” to arrive at the scene and “there was no way they could let an opportunity to simply pick up money on the streets pass them by”.
A resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he was sitting not too far from the scene when he saw the van crash.
“The van went through the wall. Then I heard gunshots followed by a sudden loud bang. I saw a piece of metal flying, which I assumed was a door. It was clearly a cash-in-transit robbery.”
The resident claimed that he could tell some of the robbers were women.
“It was strange because one does not imagine any women involved in such violent crimes; you just imagine the robbers to be scary trigger-happy men.”
He said after the robbers fled, many community members ran to van and picked up some of the remaining notes.
“They went straight to the van. Some of them even checked the inside of the van to check that they didn’t miss any bank notes. I’m not saying that what they did was right and blame it on poverty, but most of the people here do not work.
“Seeing money flying around like would definitely attract them. You just have to look at the number of people who ran to the truck after the robbery and that will show you the reality of unemployment in this area.”
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Police appealed to the public to refrain from stealing the money left behind at the scenes of cash-in-transit robberies.
“If they get caught, they will be charged with the robbery itself and they can also face a charge of theft,” said Moridili.
“Such people are also contaminating the crime scene, instead of preserving it so that the forensic team can comb it for any evidence.”
Moridili said she could not comment to the claim that police took long to respond to the crime scene.
“I do not know at what time they were called and the time they arrived.”
