Police appeal to find witnesses to Brent Cross ‘smash and grab’ robbery
Six-strong armed gang escaped with watches and jewellery from Fraser Hart store
Detectives investigating a ‘smash and grab’ robbery in Brent Cross Shopping Centre this morning have made a witness appeal.
Six men on three motorbikes rode into the centre and pulled up near Fraser Hart jewellers at around 10.15am.
Three of the men, who were all wearing dark clothing and crash helmets with their visors down, jumped of the bikes ran towards the shop and smashed the windows with pickaxes and bats.
They grabbed thousands of pounds worth of watches and jewellery before jumping back on the bikes and making their getaway towards Hendon Central.
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The motorbikes were found dumped 15 minutes later in Mill Hill near a golf course.
According to a witness the gang dropped some of their haul during their escape.
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Shopper @damomullen, who was at the Apple store when the robbers struck, tweeted “they drove out of there so fast I doubt anyone had anytime to catch them, apparently they dropped some of the stuff.”
He added: “the speed they were doing in the shopping centre was insane, happened fairly quickly.”
Another witness who asked not to be named told the Times: “They came in on motorbikes and had pick axes and bats, it was terrifying.”
No one was hurt but an elderly man was treated for shock after witnessing the robbery.
Detective Superintendent Mark Strugnell, investigating officer, said: “We are appealing to anyone who may have seen the sequence of events at the shopping centre, which had only just opened its doors to its first shoppers only moments before, and to anyone who may have seen the three motorbikes being driven from Brent Cross to Mill Hill.
“We urge anyone with information to call our incident room.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Barnet CID on 020 8733 4051/4040 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
