A group of terrified shoppers were trapped inside a store after an employee ran off with keys. Police claim the staff member at the counterfeit shop 'locked members of the public in against their will whilst they ran off with the keys in an attempt to escape'.
The incident occurred last week in Manchester when the group of 12, which included a young child, were locked inside the establishment. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) were alerted to an incident in Strangeways at around 2pm on January 6.
Manchester Evening News reports that officers then detained one of the spotters who had alerted the shopkeepers of the police presence and located a key fob to the shop. GMP says the shutters had deliberately been disabled from the inside and there was no way of getting in or out easily.
This meant that officers had to break down the shutters to get inside the store and free the shoppers trapped inside. Since the incident, three men have been arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and trademark offences.
The trio remain in police custody for questioning. The arrests come amid Operation Vulcan, the force's attempt to disrupt and dismantle 'Counterfeit Street' - a small section in and around Bury New Road just outside the city centre.
Shoppers being left trapped inside stores along the row has become a common occurrence, happening twice in the last few weeks alone. Last month, a group of 30 shoppers were heard shouting for help after being locked inside a premises on 'Counterfeit Street' and were rescued by police.
Inspector Andrew Torkington, one of Operation Vulcan’s specialist officers, said of the latest incident: “This was a dangerous and unsettling situation we encountered. The owners of the shop had disabled the shutters and locked the customers inside, all in an effort to stop police finding and seizing their counterfeit items.
"Had we not been able to get inside the shop, who knows how long the members of the public would have been stuck inside before the owners braved returning. Counterfeiting is a crime, which is why the shopkeepers are so desperate to avoid police detection.
"These clothes are of dubious, often dangerous quality, manufactured in filthy and appalling conditions. They’re being shipped to the UK where fake logos are applied by staff who are forced to work in exploitative conditions.
"They are then sold across shops in Cheetham Hill, which, as we’ve mentioned before, these buildings are structurally unsafe, littered with rat urine and faeces, and manned by shopkeepers who have weapons stashed. Operation Vulcan has been set up to disrupt every level of criminality in this area.
"We are less than one week into 2023 and this is the second largescale store that we will empty, close, and prosecute those responsible. Cheetham Hill and Strangeways will no longer be synonymous with counterfeit goods."
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