Cash boxes stolen in late-night raid on Co-op in Hatfield Heath
Burglars stole cash boxes in a late-night raid on the Co-op in Hatfield Heath.
The theft happened shortly before 11.30pm last Sunday (December 1), almost an hour and a half after the village store had shut.
Essex Police said that the raiders forced open the shutters, entered the store and stole cash boxes for the registers. They drove off in a dark-coloured vehicle towards Sheering.
A spokesperson for the force said: “We’d ask the public to check their CCTV, doorbell or dashcam footage to see if they’ve captured anything that could help our investigation. If you have any information, please get in contact with us.”
You can submit a report via the force’s website or by using its online Live Chat service. Visit www.essex.police.uk/digital101. Alternatively, call 101. To make an anonymous report, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or visit the independent charity’s website at crimestoppers-uk.org/.
Please quote crime reference 42/181119/24 when providing any information to make sure it gets to the right person as quickly as possible.
Earlier this year, a gang of four masked and hooded men got away with cigarettes and cash worth more than £3,000 from the Hatfield Heath Co-op on the morning of Thursday August 15.
They forced their way behind the counter and emptied tills and cigarette shelves. None of the staff was injured.
At the time, a spokesperson for the Co-op said that the company had invested more than £200 million over recent years in colleague and store safety and security, which includes the latest interactive CCTV, body-worn cameras, fortified kiosks, use of dummy (or empty) packaging to deter bulk theft, and undercover and non-covert guards able to detain criminals.
And on Monday August 26, a gang of robbers was arrested within an hour of raiding the Co-op in Flitch Green, near Great Dunmow.
Men wearing dark clothes and balaclavas walked in, went behind the till area and again took around £3,000 worth of cigarettes before fleeing in a car.
The suspects’ car was soon identified and, following a pursuit, it was stopped in Redbridge, east London.
Four men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of robbery and possession of drugs. The driver was also arrested for a number of motoring offences.
At the time, a spokesperson for Essex Police said that they were not linking the Hatfield Heath and Flitch Green raids, adding the investigation was still in its early stages.