City shops plagued by robberies
Ning Huang had read all the news about armed robberies in Christchurch, but he thought he was safe.
Situated in Burnside, Huang thought the Kendal Food Centre was far removed from the spate of aggravated robberies in Christchurch.
Then, on Thursday night, he found himself fearing for his life as three men stormed his store armed with a gun.
Two of the offenders grabbed Huang and took him to the back store room where he was punched twice. The third offender took cigarette cartons from behind the counter and rifling through the empty till.
‘‘I was scared because they had a gun and they pushed me very hard . . . I thought they were going to kill me.’’
Huang, who has owned the business for four years, said Burnside was a ‘‘very safe neighbourhood’’.
‘‘Some people told me the east and the south were not very good but this area is very good – I never thought this would happen in my store.’’
Huang is by no means alone. On Sunday afternoon, two masked men entered Lake Terrace Stationery and Dairy, in Burwood.
Dairy employee Adam Du ran to the back of the dairy and called police. The pair then ran off with some chewing gum.
‘‘I was really scared – I have been here for three years and I’ve never had any problems.’’
Meanwhile, police arrested a man in relation to an attempted dairy robbery on Ilam Rd yesterday afternoon.
‘‘At this stage it appears nothing was taken,’’ a police spokesman said.
Police earlier arrested a 19-yearold and two other teenagers after they robbed a dairy on Curletts Rd, west of the city centre, at about 11.40pm on Sunday.
Since July, there has been a string of aggravated robberies in the city.
Last Monday, police found clothing and a firearm at a home believed to have been used during the aggravated robbery of a Night ‘n Day on Ferry Rd.
Three people, including a man wearing a bathrobe and carrying a gun, held up the store about 3.30am on August 20. They took the dairy’s overnight take of between $500 and $600 and cigarettes.
On August 15, armed robbers targeted two Christchurch pubs, stealing about $20,000 from O’Sheas Public House.
Police arrested a 16-year-old boy last week in connection with two armed robberies at the 24/7 Buns Bakery on Ferry Rd.
The teenager was charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and would appear in the Youth Court.
The same business was robbed three weeks earlier by a group carrying knives and screwdrivers.
Robberies in Christchurch city and the Selwyn and Waimakariri districts rose 53 per cent in the year to June, rising 32 per cent in the wider Canterbury district.
Anyone with information about any of the robberies was asked to call Christchurch police on 03 363 7400 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.