The Phoenix Plaza was closed for business after a gang of armed men stormed two jewellery stores – Mayuri’s Jewellers and Sterns – on Monday, 15 November, around mid-day.
The suspects emptied the shelves in the brazen robbery and made off with an undisclosed amount of jewellery. It is alleged that the suspects fled the centre in a VW Polo and an A Class Mercedes-Benz with NUR registration plates. Several gunshots were fired inside the centre as patrons ran for their lives. A video that surfaced on social media shows a mob of people running inside the Phoenix Plaza towards the robbery, while the gunshots were being fired. “The way that people ran into the Plaza was not to escape from the bullets but to see what they could possibly loot in the ensuing mayhem. What a brazen act of stupidity as one or more of them could have lost their lives in a hail of bullets,” said a patron, Selvan Chetty.
According to Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA), who assisted in the search with a Robinson R44 Helicopter for the suspects, it was established that an employee from one of the two stores was allegedly injured after being assaulted. The robbers fired multiple shots as they made their way towards the exit. Several 9mm and rifle cartridges were recovered at the scene.
Phoenix SAPS stood off within a few minutes and cordoned off the area while police conducted the investigation. Mayuri’s Jewellers in the Phoenix Plaza has been robbed several times in the past few years.
