Cigarettes target of night-time ramraiders
A pair of ramraiders took as many cigarettes as they could carry after using a vehicle to break into a Christchurch dairy overnight.
The burglary happened at Barkers Convenience Store on Witham St, Hornby – one of a series of ramraids on small shops in recent weeks.
A police spokesperson said the latest incident was reported at 5.30am yesterday, and inquiries were ongoing.
Jerry Hu, a friend of the shop’s owner, said security cameras showed a car being used to break through the entrance.
A man and a woman could be seen going ‘‘straight to the cigarettes’’ and taking as much as they could carry before fleeing.
The pair were out within minutes, but Hu thought the stolen cigarettes would have been worth about $3000.
‘‘It’s not cheap ... It just happened really quick.’’
Hu said his friend had run the shop for several years and, despite multiple burglary attempts, it was the first time the shop had been ramraided.
He said the owner was ‘‘not feeling good’’ and he went over to give her a hand with the cleanup.
He hoped police would be able to find those responsible after one burglar’s face was captured on security cameras and police had collected fingerprints.
The ramraid comes just days after another vehicle was left inside a dairy in Halswell on Friday.
The incident happened at the On The Spot store on Hamill Rd, Halswell, about 3.30am.
The offenders left the scene in a second vehicle, a police spokesperson said.
On April 30, preloved clothing store To Be Continued was also targeted in a ramraid. The offenders grabbed armfuls of stock – mainly sunglasses and jewellery – before fleeing.
On April 27, two offenders in a stolen car smashed into the front entrance of Thirsty Liquor Huntsbury about 2am, but did not take anything. The same day, Prebbleton Dairy on Springs Rd was also ramraided, though police could not say if the two incidents were linked.