AFTERMATH: The clean-up gets under way after the latest ramraid at Stirling Sports in Waipapa. PHOTO/ PETER DE GRAAF
A Northland businessman has vowed to continue serving his community despite 14 burglaries of his store and tens of thousands of dollars of stolen stock and repair bills.
Police say a "sizeable" vehicle such as a four-wheel-drive was used to ramraid Stirling Sports in Waipapa about 5am yesterday and a
small number of items were stolen.
Co-owner Eric Hazelden said it was not the first time the store had been ramraided in a series of burglaries at the premises. In May 2013, a stolen car was used to smash into the store and twin 19-year-old brothers were arrested and charged with burglary and car theft.
Mr Hazelden said as frustrating as the burglaries were, he would keep trading in the small community. "It's one of the businesses in the area. I hope the offenders are caught as soon as possible and held to account for the trauma they've put us through," he said.
The latest ramraid through the side of the store caused an estimated $20,000 of damage. After previous ramraids went through the front of the store, Mr Hazelden reinforced the premises with bollards with large plate-glass windows reinforced with steel mesh. The vehicle used in yesterday's ramraid went through a side window into a storeroom then penetrated an internal wall into the shop. "The reinforcements put in place were quite insufficient to stop a four-wheel-drive smashing through. Repairs are not cheap but we'll have to get it done and we'll just keep on keeping on," Mr Hazelden said.
