'A psychological blow': Owner gutted after rare eBikes stolen

Two rare and expensive electric bikes were stolen from a Christchurch business on Tuesday morning.

Daryl Warnock, who owns Christchurch Electric Bicycles on Beckford Rd in St Martins, said there are only five of each of the bikes in New Zealand.

They were both Moustache brand eBikes valued at $12,000 and $10,500.

An eBike battery worth $1500 and chargers valued at $200 each were also stolen.

Warnock said police had completed forensic investigations, including fingerprinting at the scene.

He said video footage of the incident was captured on New World St Martin’s cameras across the road.

It showed two people leaving the scene, but they were too far away to be identified.

The bikes were the most expensive items in the store, and Warnock believes they were deliberately targeted.

“There are a lot of bikes but they took two that were the same and then they came right into the back of the shop and got the chargers and batteries that matched the bikes.

"So I reckon it was definitely premeditated.”

He is insured but it will be hard to find replacement bikes.

 

He said the items are a big loss because the business has been hit hard by the Covid-19 restrictions.

“Basically, there was four weeks of no sales, and then the last two weeks we’ve been doing servicing, but that’s generally just a fraction of what we normally do.

“If it wasn’t for the wages subsidy, it would have been a challenging time, and it’s also meant that I’ve been able to keep my staff on.

“It’s more of a psychological blow than anything, to be honest, because it’s like, everyone’s struggling and there’s uncertainty going forward as well."

A lock on the door of the store was broken in the burglary.

 

Warnock said whoever took them managed to do so in spite of the alarm system going off.

The community has sent messages of support since the burglary, he said.