Armed robbery unnerves jeweller

A SOUTH Dunedin jeweller has been traumatised after being robbed at gunpoint on Tuesday night.

Robert McAuliffe had turned off the lights of his King Edward St shop, McAuliffe Jewellers, and was preparing to lock up when the gunman entered with his face concealed, about 5.40pm.

‘‘He was totally covered, so I didn’t get a good look at his face,’’ Mr McAuliffe said yesterday.

‘‘He just demanded money. [He said] ‘Open the safe and get the cash’, which I did.’’

The robber also demanded gold, believing some would be on site.

As they emerged from the rear of the building, Mr McAuliffe saw an opportunity to escape.

‘‘We were coming back out [into the store],’’ he said.

‘‘I presumed he was going to get into the cabinets, so I had an opportunity to get out the door. So I did — bolted.’’

He ran to where a woman was using an ATM and she called police.

❛I had an opportunity to get out the door. So I did —

bolted❜

The gunman, who was brandishing a handgun, left the shop and was last seen fleeing down Carey Ave.

‘‘It was quite traumatising,’’ Mr McAuliffe said.

‘‘I couldn’t even see his eyes. He was looking through some kind of material.

‘‘It all happened so quickly. You almost feel detached from it.’’

The gunman got away with a small amount of cash — probably in the hundreds of dollars, he said.

‘‘The majority of transactions are done through eftpos so we don’t have a great deal [of cash].’’

The response from the community had been heartening.

‘‘We have had a lot of support in the way of calls and that kind of thing,’’ he said.

While Mr McAuliffe did not believe he could have done anything differently in the circumstances, he would be reviewing the store’s procedures and security measures.

The shop was hit by burglars last November. Three offenders stole thousands of dollars of jewellery during an early morning raid.

That case also remained unsolved, Mr McAuliffe said.

Detective Sergeant Dave Nelson said police wanted to hear from anyone who might have seen the offender before or after the armed holdup on Tuesday.

The offender was believed to be carrying a pistol.

‘‘The male offender is believed to have been walking in the area around the shop prior to the robbery, and a member of the public may have seen him,’’ he said.