Police are investigating two aggravated robberies at separate jewellery stores in Auckland which they say may be linked.
The first robbery, which took place at Krishna Jewellers in Papatoetoe, occurred just after 4pm on Sunday, according to Counties Manukau CIB Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Paea.
Yash Raniga, who’s father owns the store, told 1News at the time of the robbery his parents and uncle were working when a car came onto the footpath outside the store and a group of five people “tried to barge themselves in”.
“In the space of a few minutes they got in, took what they could see and then just ran out.”
He said the group had hammers, crowbars and a “big machete”, which made his family run to the back exit and start a fog machine.
By the time they walked around the building to the front of the store, the group had already left.
“They were feeling really scared, they didn’t know what was happening and everything was so sudden.”
Raniga said the store had been robbed in the past, but this time was more dangerous due to the robbery occurring during business hours.
He added at this stage, they aren’t sure the extent of what was taken, but he and his family are looking to do a stock take and clean-up – and explore investing more in security, which they have already done in the past.
Paea added that during the robbery the offenders “smashed glass cabinets” inside the store, while the staff moved themselves to safety.
“The men fled in the same vehicle they had arrived in. This was later found abandoned nearby,” he said.
In the second robbery, Paea said a group of offenders arrived at the Mānawa Bay shopping centre near Auckland Airport shortly before 7pm.
The group ran inside a jewellery store in the complex, smashing cabinets and taking jewellery.
They all fled in the stolen vehicle they arrived in, which was abandoned nearby on Richard Pearse Dr, with the offenders splitting into two vehicles.
He said it was fortunate that no staff working suffered any physical injuries, but were “understandably shaken”.
“At this stage we believe these two incidents may be linked,” Paea said.
Inquiries were underway to identify the group, and police urged anyone with information about either aggravated robbery to get in touch online, through 105, or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
‘People are losing business’
Meanwhile, local crime prevention group general secretary Akhilesh Chaudhary said robberies like the one at Kirshna Jewellers are “happening in [Papatoetoe] a lot”, and are causing customers to shop elsewhere.
“[The owners] have gone through mental stress … it will take time to recover.”
He said ram raids and robberies were “quiet” for a while, but it seems “another group” is now active.
“Customers don’t feel very well. They don’t feel very safe coming to the shops.
“Shopkeepers feel really unsafe as well of course, but the customers I’ve spoken to say they [will] go somewhere else and shop than come into Papatoetoe.”
“People are losing business”
Chaudhary said he has been advocating for more security cameras and more police presence in the area to deter people from committing crimes.
“If we can have them done immediately, people will start feeling safer.”
He said if things don’t change “somebody will definitely get killed”, and the changes regarding citizen’s arrest were not made for people carrying weapons.
