A burglar crawled on his belly inside a South Dunedin grocery store to prevent detection by sensor alarms before stealing thousands of dollars from a safe.
The burglar, clad in dark clothing and a beanie, entered the Grocery King store, in King Edward St, by removing a glass pane from a rear door about 2am yesterday.
The store's staff were left shaken by the brazen theft of a week's worth of takings, more than $10,000.
Owner Jade Luo said she had owned the store for only about a year and it was the first time it had been targeted.
CCTV cameras and motion detectors were operating in the store and the burglar appeared to know its layout and security measures.
Staff member Ashlee Gibbs said police told staff it appeared two men were involved and that the perpetrators had jumped a fence at the rear of the property to gain access to the glass door.
The burglars targeted only the safe. Nothing else, such as cigarettes or electronics, was taken.
``The police think it was a professional job,'' Miss Gibbs said.
CCTV showed one of the men crawling around the store with a flashlight and using what appeared to be a crowbar and other tools to break into the safe.
``Jade's pretty shocked,'' she said.
``It was her money they took. But it was also pay, so it's screwed everyone.''
She and trainee staff member Connie Tapuni arrived at the store about 6.30am to open up and discovered the ruined safe on the floor of the staff room.
Police arrived shortly after and spent several hours at the store.
Acting Senior Sergeant Jared Kirk said police were making inquiries into the burglary.
