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Rezene Gebre wants the internet to know he’s not a security guard.
The cleaner at White Oaks Mall was captured on a viral video of a smash-and-grab theft at a jewelry store in the south London mall on Wednesday.
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The video posted on the social media platform TikTok shows a hammer-wielding suspect smashing a display case at the Peoples Jewelers store. The male suspect, who is wearing a baseball hat, sunglass, gloves and a hoodie, drops his hammer and scoops up merchandise before running through the mall.
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The 11-second video shows two seniors seated nearby watching the suspect escape, while a man in a blue shirt talks on a radio as he slowly approaches the fleeing suspect.
Users on TikTok, a video-sharing mobile app and website where the video collected 820,000 views, mistakenly thought Gebre, who is the man in the blue shirt, is a security guard and questions why he didn’t stop the thief.
“Takes guts to spring into action like this security guard. Thank you for your service,” wrote TikTok user Lloyd Buckman.
Another, who goes by e.dano wrote: “The security guard was like…. I’m not paid enough to run at full speed.”
User Neal Howell, posted: “It’s the full commitment of that security guard that makes me feel safe.”
But Gebre said he did everything he could.
“I called security. The security asked me where he was going,” Gebre said Thursday.
The suspect ran out of the mall and was last seen heading south, Gebre said. “Nobody caught him. It was too late for security.”
Police say a man entered a jewelry store in White Oaks Mall on Wellington Road around 4 pm Wednesday and damaged property with a sledgehammer and stolen items before running away.
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Nobody was injured, police said, adding the investigation remains in its early stages.
“Investigators have the video,” police spokesperson Const. Matt Dawson said when asked about the social media post.
An employee at a store near Peoples who recorded the now-viral video said she started filming after hearing employees at the jewelry store scream.
The woman, who didn’t want to be identified for fear of retribution, said she didn’t post the video to TikTok, but she shared it with co-workers and friends.
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A security guard was stationed outside Peoples on Wednesday. Inside the store, the cabinet the thief smashed was covered in a tarp.
The store manager declined comment and wouldn’t say what items were stolen.
Previous smash-and-grab thefts at London jewelers have targeted high-end watches, particularly Rolex timepieces.
People’s head office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Investigators ask anyone with information about the incident to contact London police at 519-661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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