Departmental store suffers huge losses in break-in
March 11, 2010, Thursday
KUCHING: A local departmental store chain suffered huge losses after two men broke into its office and carted away tens of thousands of ringgit in coins and prepaid phone coupons.
TOO HEAVY TO CARRY: A police officer inspects the coin-filled stroller bag left behind by the thieves.
The theft, which was captured on closed-circuit television, showed two men on a motorcycle and wearing baseball caps arriving at the rear of the premises at Mile 6 1/2 Penrissen Road around 10pm on Tuesday, half an hour after the store had closed for the day.
The duo went on to cut the padlocked rear gate before making their way to the main office on the first floor, where they proceeded to dismantle the security alarm system.
They then spent a staggering four hours inside the office undisturbed, going about cutting the locks off several security deposit boxes containing bags of coins worth thousands of ringgit, before loading their haul into stroller luggage bags on sale at the departmental store and making their way down to the ground floor.
Apart from the coins, the thieves also stole an estimated RM15,000 worth of prepaid phone coupons and at least 15 handphones stored inside the main office.
Employees who discovered the theft upon opening for business yesterday morning found a stroller luggage bag that had apparently been left behind by the thieves at the side entrance of the premises.
It was believed the sheer weight of their haul had forced them to abandon the bag, which contained eight bags of coins worth about RM3,200.
A second stroller bag with was later found on the first floor containing an emptied security deposit box.
A store employee said it was still unclear exactly how much in coins was stolen, although she conceded the amount was believed to be substantial.
Police officers arrived at the scene to investigate the incident after a police report was lodged.
They went about documenting the scene and also requested for CCTV footage showing the heist for further investigation.
