FIVE thousand dollars worth of sports shoes and a quantity of cash were stolen in a brazen early morning robbery involving five shops in the Armidale Plaza today.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
New England Local Area Command Crime Manager and Detective Inspector Ann Joy said four offenders had used a stolen car to travel to and from the shopping centre just after 2am on Wednesday.
"It appears the offenders entered via a rear laneway in Jessie St at the back of the plaza and jimmied open the doors to five stores," Detective Inspector Joy said.
"Three were involved in the robbery and one drove the car."
An amount of cash was stolen from three stores, including a lingerie store and women's clothing store, but Athletes Foot also had a large quantity of merchandise taken.
Detective Inspector Joy said the public should be on the lookout for anyone offering the high-end brand sports shoes for sale at a discounted rate.
"A quantity of Asics and Nike shoes were stolen during the break-in to the Athletes Foot store," Detective Inspector Ann Joy said.
The car used in the robbery, a silver VN Holden Commodore was reported stolen on December 23 last year and police believe someone may have seen the vehicle due to a rear missing bumper bar.
"Someone may have noticed the vehicle during the period after December 23 and yesterday's robbery," Detective Inspector Joy said.
The vehicle was recovered in Claude St yesterday.
Police are reviewing CCTV footage from the incident and have released a description of the offenders clothing.
One was reported to be wearing a white hooded jumper, one offender was wearing white shorts, a black jumper and and white shoes while another was wearing a jumper.
Detective Inspector Joy said police were seeking witnesses to the incident or anyone who may have seen the Commodore after it was reported stolen.
Anyone with information can contact Armidale Police Station or CrimeStoppers.