Burgled jeweller offers cash for information

The burglar who escaped with jewellery and watches worth more than R5-million from a V&A Waterfront store was badly cut as he wriggled out of the display window.

Loss adjuster Clive Nel said judging from the amount of blood left at the scene, "it wasn't just a little scratch".

Blood was also found elsewhere in the centre, and in the fire escape, where the burglar is assumed to have left.

Now Charles Greig Jewellers' insurers are offering a reward of R500 000 for information leading to an arrest and the successful recovery of the stolen goods.

And Nel said that questions remained about security at the centre: why did the mall's sophisticated security equipment fail to operate just outside the jewellery store for a long period on the night of the burglary?

Stores at the Waterfront paid a high rate per square metre rental, and part of this rate covered the good security the centre offered, he said.

Last Saturday the burglar - it is not clear whether he was acting alone - levered open a security door outside the shop's front door, and then broke into the display case alongside, wriggling into the window area.

Nel said the items stolen were worth more than R5-million, although the figures had not been finalised yet.

Investigating officer Inspector Gert van Zyl said despite a picture of the assumed burglar being captured by security cameras, police had not identified him.

"After his picture was published in the Weekend Argus we got a lot of information which needs to be followed up."

Anyone with information should call Van Zyl on 082 469 2734 or Crime Stop at 0860 010111, or the loss adjusters Clive Nel on 082 829 0999 and Grant Cooper on 083 633 8307.