City premises targeted in brazen raids
Vandals and thieves smashing windows
Rotorua police were called to a spate of break-ins overnight Monday and into yesterday morning with incidents happening within an hour of each other.
A hospitality boss says the behaviour is “disgusting” and businesses in the CBD were “at breaking point”.
A window was smashed at the Aquatic Centre but a spokeswoman confirmed no one had entered the premises and nothing was stolen.
Rotorua Lakes Council sport, recreation and environment manager Rob Pitkethley said Watchdog Security was alerted by waste disposal contractors who drove past and saw the damage.
Watchdog contacted Rotorua Aquatic Centre staff and the police, he said.
Replacement glass was installed yesterday and an electrician would repair damage to the automatic door.
Police and Watchdog were reviewing CCTV footage.
Another incident happened at takeaway shop, Oppies on Fenton St, just before 4am yesterday.
A police spokeswoman said it appeared soft drinks were taken.
The next incident was about 40 minutes later with a report of a smashed window at Farmers on Amohau St.
Backdoor, on Tutanekai St, had its window broken by a brick about 6.45am.
The store’s second in charge, Jayda Nathan told the Rotorua Daily Post the brick left a hole in the window and a bit of glass in the store, and it was fortunate the window did not shatter.
Nathan said the same thing happened last year, except the whole window smashed and a mannequin was stolen.
Police were still working to determine whether the incidents were linked.
Hospitality NZ Bay of Plenty branch president and Hennessy’s bar owner Reg Hennessy said the breakins were “disgusting”.
“Businesses are already going through a tough time,” he said.
He said the attacks on businesses such as Farmers, Backdoor and the Aquatic Centre were particularly concerning as he believed it showed criminals were becoming more brazen.