from theStar.com.my
COLLEGE student Wei Yin, 18, shivered in fear as two men in full-faced helmets and armed with parang rushed into a restaurant in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya, where she was having teh tarik with friends.
Within
seconds, she felt the cold hard steel of the sharp blade on her neck
and the men shouted for her gold chain, her friend’s rings and
smartphones.
Before the duo ran off, they snatched several smartphones and three tablets from other customers.
In
recent times, there was a string of armed robberies targetting
customers at restaurants in Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Klang, Shah Alam
and Kuala Lumpur.
During a random check on 15 robberies, StarMetro
found that in 10 cases, the assailants rushed into the restaurants
while the other cases involved patrons seated at tables along the
street.
The 35 victims interviewed by StarMetro were fearful of giving their names or even to be photographed.
“We want to share our story to create awareness on the robberies, but no photos please,” said the Gomez sisters.
“We were robbed of our gold bracelets, chain, rings and a tablet, worth a total of RM10,500.”
S. Gomez, 35, said she had not returned to the restaurant in Section 11 in Petaling Jaya since.
Another
victim G.S. Maniam, who was enjoying a cup of coffee late one night in
Restaurant Grand City in Section 11, said he had been traumatised after
eight men armed with parang and wearing full-faced helmets robbed him of RM700 and his friend’s gold engagement rings.
“One
of them shouted and threatened to cut off my friend’s finger when he
had trouble removing two rings worth RM1,500,” he said.
Maniam
added that as the men rushed out, they spotted a couple seated at the
entrance and forced the woman to hand over her handbag.
Section
11 Grand City Restaurant manager K. Segar, 45, said the eatery had been
robbed twice, first in mid-2011 and the recent incident happened two
months ago.
“We have closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) recordings of the incident where three men armed with parang rushed in while one man waited outside and another accomplice was in the car.
“The trio snatched handphones and gold items from customers.
“Before escaping, one of the men took money from the cash register,” he said.
Segar said the restaurant was robbed of RM10,000 cash on both occasions.
In
another case two weeks ago, customers at Sid’s Pub in Bukit Tunku,
Kuala Lumpur were relieved of their mobile phones while the
establishment lost RM6,000.
Its owner, Geoffrey Siddle said his manager alerted him of the 12.45am incident in which three robbers were armed with parang.
“It
is the first time this has happened to our pub. I do not think we were
targetted,” said Siddle, when met at his branch outlet in Taman Tun Dr
Ismail.
Siddle said there were only eight customers remaining in the pub as it was closing time.
“The three men walked in and headed for the bar where his manager was ringing up the day’s earnings.
“As they walked in, they pretended to be looking for someone. One of them asked the manager some questions.
“The manager replied he had not heard of such a person and at this juncture, one of the men whipped out a parang and demanded the money from the till.
“His two accomplices told the customers to surrender their mobile phones,” he said.
He
added that as the manager handed over the money to the ringleader, he
managed to trip the alarm button that instantly alerted the police.
About
26 policemen and members of the Special Branch came in response to the
alarm but the robbers had already run off with their loot.
Despite what happened at Sid’s Pub, keeping the doors closed during business hours is not an option for Siddle.
He said it would make customers worried and drive them away.
“This is a bar where people come to relax.
“We have an extensive surveillance system and a panic button that will notify the police immediately,” said Siddle.
He
said he hoped the police would step up their presence in the Bukit
Tunku area as well as their investigations to arrest the culprits.
On
hearing about the spate of robberies, a restaurant owner in Section 17
in Petaling Jaya took matters into her own hands by installing a locked
glass door to screen her customers.
To enter the restaurant, the customers have to knock on the door before being let in.
This is common for retail shops and boutiques but an unlikely choice for food establishments.
“I have running this restaurant for 16 months but I just recently decided to install the locked door.
“I became paranoid when I heard about all the other restaurants that got robbed recently,” said Lee.
Her customers were nonetheless surprised with the security feature.
“It has not deterred the regulars from coming to my restaurant. They actually feel secure now that no one can just barge in.
“I
feel that I have lowered the risk of a robbery. I have also upgraded
the CCTV cameras in the restaurant. It costs a lot of money but it is
worth the investment,” added Lee.
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=%2F2012%2F10%2F30%2Fcentral%2F12237352&sec=central
