Burglar steals charity shop’s donation box
Finding glass strewn across the floor and a money donation box taken has shocked the manager of the Tokoroa SPCA Op Shop.
Sue Van Orsouw said she couldn’t believe the scene in front of her when she turned up to work on June 1 to find the charity shop had been burgled.
‘‘They had just kicked in the glass door and made a hole big enough to get in and take a small square perspex donation box which was sitting on the counter. There was glass for miles and I got a bit of a shock,’’ she said.
‘‘We are volunteers and we work really hard to raise money for these animals that are neglected, abandoned and abused and we need every penny we can get.’’
‘‘To think someone thinks it’s okay to smash the door and steal donations that people have kindly made, I think that is pretty low. It is just about as low as stealing off your family,’’ she said.
Van Orsouw said blood was left at the scene and she believes the culprit was someone who had been drinking at the bar across the road.
‘‘It was the morning after the first 2017 State of Origin game and after previous State of Origin games there has been smashing of windows around town,’’ she said.
‘‘We are just a charity, we can’t afford CCTV, so we want the council to hurry up and get its cameras up and running because we could have seen who did it.’’
‘‘They left a trail of blood and fingerprints. There was a drop on the counter and three drops in the doorway so police have taken samples to hopefully catch whoever did this.’’
She said around $40 to $50 was taken but the damage caused had cost a lot more.
‘‘It is costing us a lot of money to get the glass fixed. We have to work a week to replace that glass which could have gone towards the animals and we lost a day’s takings as well because we could not open,’’ she said.
‘‘We do still have a donation box but we won’t be leaving one on the counter anymore.’’
Tokoroa Police Senior Sergeant Jason Henderson encouraged anyone with information about the burglary to get in touch.
‘‘We are waiting on forensics to get back to us about the blood but if anyone has information call us at the station on 885 0100 or alternatively via the anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111,’’ he said.