On Sunday, Cape Town celebrated the annual Adderley Street Festive Lights Switch-On ceremony.

People were obviously feeling festive because they decided to do a little illegal Christmas shopping after the ceremony.

Rook Cycles in Long Street shared footage of the looting and chaos that ensued in the early hours of Monday morning.

Luke Godfrey, the co-founder of Rook Cycles, told News24 that he was asleep at the time, and only found out about the theft and damage when the looter who stole their shop phone pocket dialled him at 5AM.

Worst butt-dial ever. Take a look:

Godfrey was able to monitor the store’s cameras from his phone.

I was just praying that I would see a full shop,” Godfrey said.

“But when I checked it, I saw nothing.”

He says virtually everything was taken from the store.

“They took all of our apparel, all our backpacks, all of the bikes that were on the floor. Even all the Red Bull!”

Rook specialises in city bicycles that range in price between R5 000 and R9 000.

The police managed to catch one or two of the criminals and retrieve some of the stock, which has been taken into evidence.

Police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said that a case of business break-in was reported and the matter was under investigation.

“Seven people – aged between 14 and 24 years old – were taken to the police station.

Police recovered six bicycles. Suspects were detained and remain in custody until their first court appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court,” Rwexana said in a statement.

In another incident on Long Street, a 17-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl were arrested after they broke the front display window of a shop and stole clothing and other goods on Monday morning.

The shops on either side of Rook Cycles also had their glass smashed, along with a number of other stores along the road.

[Godfrey] said it was “shocking” that the City didn’t provide sufficient security during the event.

“These events are no longer safe for family, but purely for thieves to pickpocket and vandalise.”

The shop is experiencing a spate of poor luck. About a week ago, someone stole their previous shop phone and started messaging customers, asking them to deposit money into a bank account.

Fortunately, the owners were alerted to the scam quickly and alerted their customers.

He also says that they’ll be rolling with the punches, and up and running soon.

[source:news24]