Armed robbers got away with more than R100 000 worth of cellphones during a store heist in Athlone last week.
Three robbers hit Pep Stores in George Street at about 3.30pm, Wednesday February 19, according to Athlone police spokeswoman Sergeant Zita Norman.
The manager was at the back of the store, and the robbers ordered a cashier to open a till, but when she struggled to open it, they took a security guard to the storeroom where they tossed 301 cellphones worth R118 000 into a black bag.
They left the store in a white Ford Fiesta and are still at large.
In another incident, police arrested a 33-year-old on a perjury charge after he allegedly lied about being hijacked in Rondebosch East on Saturday.
According to Lansdowne police station spokesman Sergeant Nkululeko Mnyaka, the man claimed he had been hijacked on the corner of Imam Haron and Belmont roads at 1:15pm. Police investigated, but the man later admitted he had lied.
Police say he had been engaged with private business with his company car and made up the story about being hijacked to avoid getting into trouble with his boss.
The car is now back with the company.
Meanwhile, a man hijacked a Taxify driver on Friday February 14 at a shop in Cross Boulevard Road, Kewtown after 9pm.
Police say the driver stopped at the shop in his gold Toyota Etios Sprinter and was forced out of the car by the man who drove off. The car was later found in Delft. No shots were fired and no injuries were sustained.
The car will be returned to the owner once it has been checked for fingerprints.
In another crime incodent, two men hijacked a woman at a pharmacy on the corner of Belgravia and St Athans roads, on Wednesday February 12.
The men forced the woman out of her Toyota Corolla 180 GSX at gunpoint and drove off in it. No shots were fired and no injuries sustained.
Anyone with information can contact Athlone SAPS 021 697 9238/39.