Customers foil boys’ robbery
A Nelson dairy manager told knife-wielding robbers ‘‘it’s never going to happen’’ before members of the public tackled one of them.
Three teenage boys tried to rob the Roto Street Store in Tahunanui just after 3pm on Sunday.
Manager Kuljeet Heer was working in the store and said three boys wearing hoodies and masks came in, each carrying knives.
‘‘They started asking for money and I said: it’s never going to happen so just give me your knife and go away,’’ Heer said.
He said the robbers repeatedly asked him to open the till but he refused.
‘‘They were wearing masks and I didn’t know they were kids but when they came here and started asking me to open the till then I realised they were kids by the voice.’’
Despite the presence of the knives, Heer said he knew the teens were not going to hurt him.
‘‘I got a piece of wood for my protection here and they didn’t say anything much about it.’’
It was then that two customers entered the store and both rushed to Heer’s aid.
After realising they were not going to get anything, the trio tried to escape.
A male customer grabbed one of the teens and tackled him, pinning him down while a female customer called police.
They remained in the store with the young man until police arrived.
‘‘The guy asked: let me go this time, I will never come back, please, please,’’ Heer said.
The other two teens ran off without taking anything from the shop.
One was caught a short distance away by police, while the other was arrested later on Sunday.
Heer said he did not know the customers who helped him, but he had seen them in the store before and was thankful for their help.
It was not the first time he had been in that sort of situation, having worked in another dairy in Nelson and one in Christchurch that had also been robbed.
‘‘Never before like this, where somebody came in with a knife.’’
Owner Chanty Pich said she had owned the store since 2008 and the incident was the first attempted robbery that had occurred in that time.
She did not know who the customers were but said she was so thankful that they stepped in to help.
‘‘When you look at the camera it is so amazing, another girl picks up the phone to ring [police].
‘‘They are so brave, I really thank them.’’
She said she was scared as a result of the robbery but had received support from customers and other dairy owners.
All three teenagers were aged 15 and appeared in the Nelson Youth Court yesterday, charged with aggravated robbery.
The incident comes three days after another Nelson dairy was robbed by masked offenders carrying hammers. Four people were later arrested.