Thieves peddle their loot online
Axe-wielding youths steal thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes during a brazen daylight raid
Agroup of young men who robbed the Tutukaka General Store were in and out in under a minute and wore masks to help avoid being caught.
Then the four youths went online, offering their haul of cigarettes.
“PM (private message) is afta any ciggies,” wrote one alleged culprit on Instagram, holding up a handful of cigarette packets.
It took less than a day for the manager and staff of Tutukaka General Store to solve the Saturday daylight robbery.
The manager of the shop, who did not want to be named, even found the robbers’ stolen car.
Inside were the weapons used during the robbery.
Security footage from the store showed four young men storm inside, jump the counter and wave weapons about, sending the shopkeeper running for safety.
The video showed the men entering 22 seconds after 3.24pm. They were gone less than a minute later.
The shopkeeper said he did
Shopkeeper
not realise it was a robbery until the intruder smashed the counter glass with an axe.
“At first, I thought they were just kids trying to joke around and have a bit of fun.
“They were a group of four people and there was nothing I could do but save my life.
“I left the store immediately from the back exit.”
The intruders also stole his phone and car keys.
The shopkeeper said the loss of the phone cost him “irreplaceable” memories and the loss of important documents.
With cigarettes costing more than $30 a packet, the lightweight haul of at least 20 sleeves – 10 cigarette packets – could net the robbers thousands of dollars.
At the end of the video, one of the youths can be seem fleeing with the till, while knocking the computer screen to the ground.
The store manager found the stolen red Kia car in Tikipunga with the robbery weapons in it on Sunday afternoon.
He was first on the scene post-robbery and was “terrified” for the shopkeeper’s safety.
“I rushed here and was relieved to find him (shopkeeper) alright.”
The man said he’d lived in the area for more than 11 years and this was the first robbery in the community.
“Everyone in the community is a bit shaken. People are baking for us, bringing flowers and cards ... it is a small community and we are like a family.”
He said he did not want to install a barricade as it “does not look good”.
Everyone in the community is a bit shaken. People are baking for us, bringing flowers . . . it is a small community and we are like a family.