Business owner blames street upgrade for break-ins

The owner of the Richmond Roast House and Cafe says since work began on the upgrade of Queen St, his store has been broken into three times. Overnight on Tuesday, thieves had targeted Garry Higgins’ business, taking between $3000 to $5000 worth of food items.

Higgins had closed the shop last week due to illness but had set up on Monday to open the next day.

‘‘Tuesday, I thought I’m good as gold, we’re ready to rock and roll. I arrived at 7am and knew straight away.’’

‘‘This is the third time in about eight weeks,’’ he said. The first hit was some time around Easter.

‘‘When we first got broken into they chopped the locks ... they came back a couple of weeks ago and attempted to get in again.’’

But after the first break in, Higgins had the locks reinforced. He thought the system had been enough of a deterrent to fend off any more attempts of breaking in. ‘‘But of course, they came back.’’

The business is nestled between a complex of other shop fronts on Queen St, which has been covered with scaffolding and shaded cloth while the council work to upgrade the road. It was scheduled to finish months ago, Higgins said.

‘‘It’s an opportunity. I’ve never had a problem for four or five years. No one has touched it or done anything and ever since that’s been up [the fence] is when we’ve had the problems.

‘‘I think it’s a sign of the times, of the drug problem the country is having.’’

They aren’t the only ones who have been targeted along the street since roadworks began.

Tasman District Council media liaison Chris Choat said the contractors on site, Downers, have a security presence on site overnight.

‘‘They are looking to increase the presence following the recent thefts.’’

If anyone has information contact the Nelson Police on 03 546 2840 or Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111. You can provide information anonymously via the online Crime Stoppers reporting page.