£13,000 haul in Whitchurch jewellery shop raid
Thieves made off with £13,500 worth of jewellery in a raid at a Whitchurch family business, bosses revealed today
Two men entered Dodington's Jewellers in High Street and enquired about items of jewellery, before grabbing a number of rings and fleeing.
Now the owner has claimed that if police were in the area sooner he "is sure" the suspects would have been caught.
Paul Wojda said the business has been in his family for 70 years.
He added: "We're in shock. What's concerning me at the moment is that it's nearly a week on and considering there was a considerable effort from my staff chasing after these guys and meeting people who had come together to help, we do deserve better from the police.
"They could have stopped them getting away in the car, but they didn't arrive for about half an hour. It's frustrating.
"If they were quicker to the town, with witnesses following and chasing, they could've followed them.
"Myself and my colleague both went out after them but later on in the chase after about 20 or 30 minutes my guy had fallen and hurt himself and we saw one of them had a hammer.
"They got into a red Fiesta after a lady drove up.
"The police got to us about half an hour after the incident.
"I can replace the stock, but not my staff.
"I would absolutely like to say thanks to the witnesses that helped, I feel their frustration, they went above the call of duty.
"Whitchurch people are fantastic and they deserve better."
Mr Wodja added: "I am sure that if police had been there earlier they could have stopped that car."
The offenders are described as Asian men, aged 25-35.
The first is described as 5ft 6in to 5ft 7in and of slim build with dark hair and a beard and was wearing a dark baseball cap and jeans, with dark coloured zip top or coat.
The second man is described as similar in appearance, but slighter taller and larger in build.
He had no facial hair and was wearing dark jeans, a navy coloured light coat that was unzipped with a dark T-shirt underneath.
West Mercia Police are investigating and would like to hear from anyone who may have witnessed this incident at the jewellers or seen men matching the descriptions in the area at the time.
Anyone who can assist should call police on 101, quoting incident number 526s of June 15. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org
