/ 30 November 2006

Pretoria petrol stations robbed in two-hour spree

Five petrol stations were robbed of money and petrol within two hours in Pretoria on Wednesday night by two men who posed as customers, Tshwane metro police said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Louise Britz said two men driving a white Ford Bantam went to the five service stations and asked petrol attendants to put petrol in the vehicle’s tank.

At each station one of the men would leave the car and enter the shop at the garage, pretending to be buying something.

”When the petrol attendant asks for payment for the petrol, the one left in the car tells him that the other man will pay,” Britz said.

When the petrol attendant asked for money from the man in the shop, both robbers would pull out guns and force the cashier to open the till.

The five stations robbed between 10pm and midnight were the Engen garage in Rigel Avenue, the Caltex garage on the corner of Louis Botha and Hans Strijdom, the Engen garage in Cliffendale Avenue, and Engen garages in Garsfontein and Kilner Park. — Sapa