The two “girls” and permanent security guard at David Rosas’ raided jewellery store yesterday were given no choice.
The four masked men who ‘arrived out of nowhere’ “held guns to everyone’s heads, made them lie down… that was it.
“There was nothing anyone could have done”, said an ‘inside source’.
“You can’t do a thing in situations like these”, the source continued. “With all due respect, no one is going to risk their lives. This was definitely professional”.
The two “girls” (as they were described) employed in the shop have been trained for situations like this, said the source.
“They immediately got into the foetal position.
“The guard had a gun to his head. He is ex-military, so perhaps he was less shaken than the girls”.
Today a spokesperson for Quinta Shopping’s David Rosas jewellers said they would be prepared to talk to journalists, “but not today. Today it’s just not appropriate”.
The total value of goods stolen yesterday (click here) remains unsubstantiated, but it is certain to be in the region of “hundreds of thousands of euros”.
And this is where the source suggested things here may have to change.
In UK, for example, security at jewellery stores at the top end of the market sees them effectively working behind ‘locked doors’ – opened only once security is confident that it is safe to do so.
Here – and particularly in the relaxed sunshine of a coastal resort at the end of the season – ‘security’ is only in the form of one full-time guard, unauthorised to carry any kind of weapon.
“It’s very scary”, the source admitted. “Hopefully we are never going to get to the situation of South Africa or America in terms of gun-carrying, but then we have to accept that when things like this happen, there is no way of responding other than to do what you’re told”.
The permanent security guard at the store was basically there to ensure against shoplifters, the source stressed, not armed raiders – particularly when there are four of them.
As our report last night suggested, there appear to have been no actual customers in the shop when it was attacked.
The whole incident was “extremely quick” with CCTV cameras unable to capture any helpful details of the robbers’ faces.
PJ police continue to investigate.
Image: the interior of Quinta Shopping’s David Rosas jewellery store
