Public help needed after ram raid at Tauranga liquor store

Thieves carried out a ram raid on a Tauranga liquor store, making off with bottles of alcohol, cigarettes and the till.

Sergeant Phil Wilkinson said police were notified about 12:15am yesterday that a security alarm had been activated at the Thirsty Liquor store on Chapel St.

Mr Wilkinson said bollards at the store's entrance were damaged, and the front doors of the store had been forced open.

A silver Mazda Familia or similar vehicle was seen leaving the area, heading south on Chapel St, he said.

Mr Wilkinson said police were keen to hear from anyone who knew of a vehicle of that description which may have sustained damage to its rear and sides.

Store manager Gurpinder "Gary," Nagra said he was unaware there was a break-in until his boss rang him yesterday morning.

"I was really shocked," he said.

Mr Nagra said he and his colleagues had spent most of the day cleaning up the mess caused by the three offenders, and he was still counting up the cost of the robbery.

"It's been a big headache for us, and a great inconvenience to our customers. This is the first time something like this has happened since we opened in 2013, but robberies like this are just getting too much," he said.

CCTV footage showed two of the offenders peering into the store at 11pm (Thursday) before one offender kicked the middle concrete bollard near the entrance off its base, and dragged the bollard out of the way, he said.

Mr Nagra said an hour later the same two offenders returned with a third person who backed their vehicle through the locked front doors.

Once inside the trio tried to break into the locked cigarette cabinet, but when they failed, they grabbed armloads of bottles of alcohol which they loaded into the vehicle, he said.

Mr Nagra said the offenders repeated this process several times, and in their panic dropped some of the bottles of alcohol which smashed on the floor and on to the ground.

One offender also grabbed the till before the trio drove away, he said.

Mr Nagra said the robbery was over in just under two minutes.

"I'm still really angry about it. I'm still adding up how much alcohol and smokes were taken and how much damage will cost us, he said.

On Wednesday night the Lucky 7 Superette in Maungatapu Rd was held up by two men, one armed with a black pistol.

Police have charged a 16-year-old youth but are still searching for his accomplice.

Police are also yet to make an arrest in the attempted burglary of Liquorland on Cameron Rd on April 6 during which one of the two male offenders assaulted a staff member.

Police said both men were wearing dark clothing, gloves and bandannas over their faces.

One of whom was wearing a "very distinctive" black jacket with white lettering and patterns on it.

The offender initially tried to goad the staff member into a fight before striking him around the leg with the length of wood and both offender then left, police said.

If anyone has any information about any of these incidents they are urged to phone Tauranga police on 577 4300.