RAM RAID HITS TRADE
Business owners hurt after attempt to steal centre ATM
WESTRIDGE Shopping Centre business owners lost one of their best days of trade after the popular mall was ram raided.
Thieves used a stolen car to attempt to steal an ATM.
A PAIR of wannabe thieves drove a stolen Holden Colorado ute through the front door of Westridge Shopping Centre early yesterday.
They targeted a freestanding ATM, hoping to bust it open.
They failed.
Rather than profit from their ram-raid, their only achievement was to ruin the busiest day of trading for seven family-owned businesses based inside the centre.
They were forced to close while workers repaired the centre and erected temporary doors.
Westridge Meats owner Michelle Jensen said the ram raid was a low act.
“The centre has a real community-based clientele and for this to happen is really unfortunate,” she said.
“We are closed all day which was meant to be one of our biggest days of trade with everyone stocking up for News Year’s Day barbecues.”
Instead of serving their loyal customers, Michelle and her husband Luke spent the day ferrying meat to their second store at The Ridge. They lost about $10,000 worth of sales.
“As a small business that hit to our cash flow is really big,” Mrs Jensen said.
The offenders drove through the front door about 1am and spent about 10 minutes attempting to pry open the ATM.
Westridge Shopping Centre manager Linda Eiser hoped police would catch the offenders soon, helped by clear CCTV footage, captured on 24 cameras.
“We are very well covered,” she said
“As soon as there is a minor incident here we’re right on to the cameras and giving that information to the police.”
The cameras helped police nab an armed robber who held up the BWS bottle shop on Christmas Eve.
“We had excellent vision,” Ms Eiser said.
“We actually have him manipulating the cameras the week before.
“It was as good as a selfie.” Westridge Photography owner Stuart Male backed the cameras’ quality.
He said they helped identify a thief on December 9.
“We call her the Barefoot Bandit,” he said. “She came through in the middle of the day and was not wearing shoes. She stole $100 from us, $400 from the newsagent and alcohol from the BWS. She was from Ipswich and her sister dobbed her in apparently.”
Police asked anyone with information about the ram raid offenders to phone Police Link on 131 444.