‘They just smashed everything'
Did ram raiders film themselves in the act?
Brazen thieves who carried out a ram raid on a Rotorua liquor store may have filmed themselves in the act. Police were notified of a break-in at Super Liquor Rotorua Central on Fenton St about 4.30am, yesterday.
James Magatogia, who runs commercial operations for the store's owner, said the front doors were severely damaged by the ram raid and the thieves stole alcohol and left behind a trail of broken glass and thousands of dollars worth of damage.
“They smashed the main panel on the front doors, they pulled the doors off the hinges. They just smashed everything. They smashed bottles behind the counter, they smashed them outside,” Magatogia said.
On security camera footage it appeared one individual was filming the raid which he said was “ridiculous”. Footage showed two cars — a Nissan Tiida and a green truck — pulling up to the store in the early hours of the morning. Magatogia said the Tilda backed through the shop doors while the truck remained parked outside.
“Three of them took turns going inside grabbing boxes of beer and bottles of spirits off the shelves, threw them in the car, left the Tiida in the carpark then drove off.”
Police arrived about five minutes after the offenders left the scene, he said.
“It looks like young ones who don’t really know the value of alcohol.”
“For the amount of damage and stuff taken, it’s not worth it. I don’t know why people bother doing it.”
A police spokeswoman said the Criminal Investigation Branch was investigating the incident and making inquiries to find those involved.