Police are searching for a vape thief caught on camera on Friday at Infused Vape Shop, in Thames St, Oamaru.
The young male suspect entered the shop at 1pm from Thames St, picked three vape disposables from separate shelves and put them down his pants before walking slowly to the store’s back entrance and sprinting off, it was alleged.
The suspect was wearing a black cap, a yellow sweatshirt, black pants and white trainers.
Shop co-owners Tracy Pile and Brendon Cromwell, a mother and son business team, said they were "gutted".
"It’s very brazen.
"This is what destroys small businesses," Ms Pile said.
"We have security alarms, fog cannons ... it’s not like we haven’t done the things to protect ourselves," Ms Pile said.
"We don’t want to put everything under lock and key.
"It’s the principle of the matter, not the cost of the products, it’s the principle," Mr Cromwell said.
The shop owners said most of their customers were "great".
They were grateful they had not been targeted before, but the theft had left them uneasy.
"We’re lucky, in a sense, that it doesn’t happen more often.
"Vape shops get broken into sometimes multiple times," Mr Cromwell said.
"It puts us on edge a little bit," Mr Cromwell said.
The CCTV footage also captured the suspect leaving a drink bottle outside the store before entering.
The bottle had been handed to police.
The shop owners posted details of the alleged crime on social media, eliciting tips.
"The same name has come up numerous times," Ms Pile said.
They said they would leave the rest to police.
