Ram-raid shocks owner; city’s sixth incident in two weeks

The Pomona St Discounter store where a ram-raid occurred in Invercargill yesterday....
The Pomona St Discounter store where a ram-raid occurred in Invercargill yesterday. Investigations were ongoing, police said. Photo: Valu Maka
An Invercargill dairy owner was left to pick up the pieces after ram-raiders smashed his front door and windows early yesterday.

Police responded to reports of a burglary at Pomona St Discounter store in Tramway Rd about 1.15am.

Shop owner Anson Huang said he was shocked and upset when he arrived at the store in the early morning, and found his door completely smashed.

In the CCTV footage, the burglars rammed a stolen Mazda car into the door and two of the offenders entered the building while a third person stood outside on watch.

They took cash, cigarettes and vapes before vacating the building and abandoning the stolen vehicle on the premises, he said.

"You know they could of broken my glass but why did they have to ram my door?

"It has really upset me because I’ll have to wait for a new door and that won’t happen straight away."

A police spokesman said the vehicle was stolen earlier in the night, and investigations were ongoing to locate the offenders.

Sadly, this was not the only recent burglary Mr Huang said.

"There are many shops being robbed and cars being stolen.

"It is happening a lot and there is not much we can do."

This is the sixth time a commercial property in Invercargill has been targeted in the past two weeks.

Last week, the Night ’n Day in Tay St was cordoned off after a burglary involving three offenders who were seen leaving the premises with stolen goods.

On March 1, four Invercargill shops were hit in the space of 25 minutes.

The offenders targeted perfume and clothing.

Detective Constable Pete Smallfield said last week some drugs and some perfumes and colognes were stolen in the burglaries at the pharmacies.

While he believed there was no reason the public should be specifically concerned about this type of offending, it was a timely reminder for businesses to review their security systems.

 

Advertisement