Machete held to employee’s throat
Armed robbery all for a ‘bit of cash and a few packs of cigarettes’
Adairy assistant was jumped from behind, beaten and threatened with a machete held against his throat for “a bit of cash and a few packs of cigarettes” on Tuesday night.
The owner of the Kingsford Supermarket in Mangere has described finding blood all over the floor when he rushed to the scene.
A man and a woman were working at the shop on Raglan St when four masked men, armed with two machetes, entered the shop at 7.28pm.
The male employee, who is in his 20s, was bagging stock and facing away from the door when the men entered, owner Kamaljit Singh said.
“They took less than 90 seconds — they just came in in a flash and jumped on the boy. He didn’t see them coming because he was looking the other way.
“They hit him on the head, grabbed him and threw him on the ground, held a machete to his head and beat him up,” Singh said. “They just took a bit of cash and a few packs of cigarettes because they saw a customer coming in and took off.”
The men are thought to have run through Aorere Park to Haddon St.
The female employee, aged about 30, was behind the counter and was not touched but was now “shaken” and might need counselling, he said.
“She’s brave — she was back at work today,” he said. The shop was open again about midday yesterday.
Singh estimates 10 police cars as well as a dog team were at the scene within minutes, as was a chopper.
“They were there pretty quick,” he said. “They tried their best but they didn’t catch the men.”
When Singh arrived, the man was “quite injured”, he said. “There was a lot of blood on the floor. He went to hospital and he was released about 3am but he’s still in for checkups today.”
The victim suffered facial and head injuries as well as bruising to his body, according to police.
They are looking at CCTV footage of the incident and have released stills in the hope that family and friends of the robbers will identify them to police.
Detective Senior Sergeant Albie Alexander of the Counties Manukau major crime team said the incident was an absolutely abhorrent attack, which involved an excessive level of violence.
“This is absolutely disgusting behaviour and these individuals should be ashamed of themselves.
“There is a high chance that these offenders are easily identifiable to family and friends and we are asking them to do the right thing and notify police.”
The offenders needed to be held accountable, he said. “They are a danger to the public and this level of violence is totally unacceptable.
“Our community should be safe to go about their business.”
Alexander said police were focused on catching the offenders and had arrested 68 people for aggravated robberies that had happened since February.
“We hope this sends a clear message to those people who think these types of cowardly crimes are acceptable; that they will be held to account and placed before the courts.”
He said the offence carried a sentence of up to 14 years in jail.
Singh, 40, owns the business with his wife, and it has been in the family for more than 30 years.
This was the first time they’d had any trouble, he said. But he is aware robberies are happening more frequently, and attended an April crime prevention march in Manukau, which called for more police protection and harsher penalties.
“It’s so scary looking at the footage,” Singh said. “It’s a terrible feeling.
“There’s nothing really that shopkeepers can do — it has to be the Government that have to make the punishment a bit harsher.
“The police do their job, they catch the people and nothing happens to them. They get a slap on the hand and that’s it, they go and do it again because it’s easy.”
A police spokeswoman said the robbery is not believed to be linked to the attempted robbery of a Mangere petrol station at the weekend.
That robbery was foiled by an attendant who fought off the robbers with their own baseball bat.
Anyone with information can call Counties Manukau’s major crime team on 09 261 1300 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.