WATCH the shocking moment a group of thugs forced their way into a London carpet store in the dead of night to rob the tills.
The brazen robbery was caught on CCTV at Medina Carpets and Furniture in Whitechapel, East End of London on Tuesday.
The video sees the group of thieves wrenching the shop’s shutters open just before 3:30 am before crawling their way inside and ransacking the cash registers.
The footage, shot from the perspective of a camera outside the store, shows the group of four criminals gathering outside the shop’s shutters – which have already been partially bent open.
The group, who all wear dark clothing and have masks and hoods covering their faces, convene for a moment before two of the blokes bend down and begin lifting the shutters up as far as they can.
A third man takes to the ground and begins kicking at the door behind the shutters in an attempt to gain entry.
Once it appears that the door has been forced open, three of the robbers make their entry into the building, crawling on the floor to fit under the bent shutters.
One of the group remains outside to lift the damaged shutters for his accomplices and keep watch while the trio carry out the robbery.
The video then cuts to the view from an interior security camera capturing the trio’s search for cash and valuable goods.
They can be seen behind the shops counter, using phone torches to navigate in the pitch dark, attempting to break open the cash drawer of the till.
One of the three ransacks all of the drawers behind the counter searching for cash to grab while the other two remain out of sight of the camera.
One of the pair, coming back into frame, appears to answer a phone call while his pals continue to commit their robbery.
After his phone call ends, he moves to assist his accomplice in searching the drawers behind the till as the third robber also comes over to help.
The trio completely ransack the space behind the counter, leaving no stone unturned in their search for stuff to steal.
Eventually, after seemingly finding what they wanted, the trio make their break for the exit.
The footage was shared to social media yesterday with the caption: “Thieves broke into Medina Carpet’s Furniture (Shadwell) last night and stole money from the place.”
The clip has since received over 160 likes and dozens of comments from appalled Brits, with many suggesting the robbery was an inside job.
One user said: “How did they know the shop kept cash on site? One of them definitely use to work there.”
Another replied: “Someone [definitely] knows the shop and owner and has inside info. Also, a telephone call made there. Easy for police to track who was there. But do they care?”
A third added: “What idiots, they’re going to get caught, took the face masks off, they must be waiting for that knock on the door by plod.”
Another commented: “Looks like that guy takes out his phone to ask something like… ‘Hey, where exactly did you say the cash is?’ I reckon an inside job or ex-employee involvement.”
A police spokesperson today said: “Police are investigating a commercial burglary at a store on Martha Street, E1.
“The burglary took place between 02:30hrs and 03:30hrs on Tuesday, 13 February.
“The four suspects entered the property by damaging the shutters and left with goods from the store including rugs and charity collections boxes.
“Detectives are conducting local enquiries including CCTV from the surrounding area.
“There have been no arrests at this time.”
