25 June, 2022

Retailers on edge after third Hurstmere strip robbery

Retail workers fear for their safety after a third brazen robbery on Takapuna’s main shopping stretch in as many months.

In the latest raid, about 4.20pm on Thursday last week, robbers used crowbars to smash jewellery cases at Michael Hill Jewellers on the corner of Hurstmere and Lake Rds, before fleeing in a vehicle with bags of loot.

Kim Juan, who works nearby, said she was talking on the phone when she saw the robbers’ car stop in the middle of Hurstmere Rd.

“The guys got out and they had these big massive crowbars,” she said. “All I heard was the smashing – it was like gunshots, that’s how loud it was. “They got back in the car with bags and squealed off down the road.”

Video footage shows a figure in black smashing into jewellery cases and then two robbers driving off in what is understood to be a stolen Mazda Demio.

The raid follows two others in Hurstmere Rd – at Takapuna ASB on 18 March and jewellery store Fifth Avenue on 20 April – also during weekday business hours.

Juan, who only recently started working in retail premises on Hurstmere Rd, said she had been left feeling unsafe in the area. Recently, after coming across some unsavoury types in the alleyway at the rear of her workplace, she has started leaving from the front.

“It’s going to happen again. What’s going to stop them?

“No, I don’t feel safe.”

Another worker at a nearby business, who did not want to be identified, said she and a co-worker closed the doors of their premises during the “very scary” Michael Hill robbery. “It has been going on too much,” she said.

Lucas Ebbeke, owner of nearby jeweller Ebbeke & Co, said he was looking at extra safety measures. “I’m feeling safe after hours, but not during working hours,” he said.

Takapuna Beach Business Association chief executive Terence Harpur said he planned to meet with senior police. The area had a community constable, but he said police could do little to stop these crimes while they were in progress, so they had to get to the root of the problem, which he blamed on young gang prospects.

“It’s a very bad situation in the city and we’re starting to see some of it on the North Shore,” he said. “This is an Auckland-wide problem; it is not a Takapuna issue.”

Harpur asked the community to rally around the latest business to be targeted. “They’re good people; they’re good staff. Maybe drop in and just say a nice word to them.”

The Waitematā East Area Commander, Inspector Stefan Sagar, said several glass cabinets were smashed and “a number of items” taken in the Michael Hill robbery. The car used was found abandoned only a short distance away. Enquiries were ongoing.

He wanted to reassure the community the police took the recent incidents “extremely seriously” and would be visible in the community.

“Police are working hard to investigate these matters. Some of these investigations are complex and it takes time to carry out enquiries,” Sagar said. “We have no tolerance for some of the blatant violence on display across Auckland’s communities, including some of those on the North Shore.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Police on 105 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers. North Shore MP Simon Watts said police on the North Shore were “extremely stretched”. Crime was an increasing issue, he said. “This is a brazen, violent attack in terms of smashing the shop up, putting the staff at risk, in the middle of the afternoon with complete disregard for bystanders.”

A spate of crime around the time of the Fifth Avenue robbery prompted the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board to seek a greater local police presence and longer police station.

Board chair Ruth Jackson renewed that call in the wake of the latest robbery.

“What we need is boots on the street.”

Please consider supporting The Rangitoto Observer by clicking here:

---

The Rangitoto Observer can be downloaded online here.