Armed robbers hit Manukau electronics store, workers fight back

• Auckland shopkeepers foiled an armed robbery attempt on Saturday night.
• Four armed offenders smashed glass cabinets and stole electronics at Hotspot Electronics in Manukau.
• Police are investigating the incident, but no injuries were reported.

Auckland shopkeepers have been caught on camera foiling an armed robbery attempt, throwing items at the offenders from behind the counter.

The incident at Hotspot Electronics in Manukau was captured from various angles on CCTV.

Four armed and hooded offenders entered the mobile and electronic store at 6.04pm on Saturday.

Armed with a steering wheel lock, tyre rod, hammer, and a golf club, they smashed glass cabinets and started stuffing their bags with cell phones and other goods.

Police were called after an aggravated robbery on Norman Spencer Drive at about 6.05pm.

The two store workers react quickly, hurling a cardboard box across the room and swinging a desk chair at the offenders.

As the group of four begin to flee, the workers chased them out of the store.

Hotspot Electronics owner Harvinder Dhiman, who is seen in the video throwing a chair, said his young children had just left the store with his partner only minutes before the attack began.

“My son is only 7, my daughter is 3, and I’ve got a younger one who is like 5 months. So they just left, like 5.58pm and [the robbers] came about 6.03pm.”

The offenders only stole two phones, but caused around $3000 in damage during the attack.

“They did a lot of damage, they smashed a lot of the glass.”

Dhiman said he was glad no one was injured, but described the incident as traumatic and said he was still in shock.

“I’m just a bit concerned it [could] happen again.

“We just want to work hard and look after our kids. That’s what I want.”

Dhiman said he wanted to highlight the crime and aggression that business owners and workers were having to deal with.

Police were called after an aggravated robbery on Norman Spencer Drive at about 6.05pm, a police spokesperson said.

“Fortunately, no one was injured during the incident. Electronics were reported to have been taken.”

Police inquiries are ongoing.

CCTV footage from outside the shop shows the four robbers fleeing in a small black vehicle.

Ministerial Advisory Group for Victims of Retail Crime chairman Sunny Kaushal said the incident reflected the “sad reality of law and order in New Zealand”.

“These kinds of robberies and assaults destroy businesses and livelihoods, the retailers and consumers are paying a high price of this disorder.

“The biggest challenge we face is a perception by criminals that they are untouchable – that there are no consequences for their actions. That police won’t respond, and that even if they do, that the courts will let them go."

In February, the Government unveiled new citizen arrest laws giving retailers and the public more power to detain shoplifters.

“Progress is being made but more needs to be done,” Kaushal said.

The new citizen’s arrest laws have faced controversy; Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young feared the powers would end up contributing to the death of a retail employee.

Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.