Four Men in Police Custody Following Robbery at Fair Deals, Ellerton, St George

Four men were reported to be in police custody in connection with a robbery that occurred Thursday morning at Fair Deals, Ellerton, St George.

It was the fourth time the mini mart has been hit by crooks over time.

Manager of the store, Juanita Hewitt said it was a traumatising experience for staff and customers who were also stripped of their belongings by the masked men.

“Here you are trying to work honestly, trying to be a good citizen, and then people sitting down and plotting how to take you out more or less. And it was . . . I was angry, still angry but not as much as I was before because I had been praying all morning and all night to get this anger out of me,” she said.

Security camera footage of the incident has been circulated on social media and showed two men wearing overalls with hoodies – one man was dressed in black and the other in white – exiting a white car from the front passenger and back seat, as it arrived on the compound.

They entered the store brandishing at least one firearm and held the staff at gunpoint while they stuffed cash into a bag before fleeing in the getaway car.

The business operated as usual yesterday, though the armed robbery became the root of discussion among patrons and staff who expressed a mixture of shock and anger at what had occurred.

Fair Deals had been the subject of four separate robberies in the past but Hewitt said there was little that can be done to prevent such occurrences in the future.

“I don’t know that I can put any more security than I have already, at this moment. We do not have a security guard, but even with a security guard you would get the same reactions that you had yesterday.

“I have to wait and see what is going to happen. I can’t say, now I am not in a frame of mind. It’s kind of overwhelming, its distressing,” she said.

Calls to the police for an update on the matter went unanswered.