Auckland liquor store staff lock armed robber in shop, second time they’ve been hit in 2 months

Brave workers at an Auckland liquor store say they locked a screwdriver-wielding robber in the shop but he escaped through a roof cavity before being arrested by police.

The store’s manager says staff are fed up and scared after a similar attack only two months ago.

Melrose Liquor business manager Jash Kanakia claims he asked police for help under the Government’s crime prevention fund, but was denied as a “serious” robbery hadn’t occurred yet.

He said he was at home when tonight’s robbery occurred, but raced to his store on Melrose Rd, Mount Roskill when he saw it unfolding on a live video feed he has set up.

“Basically, this guy just walked in and straight away, just charged for the till,” Kanakia said. He said the man was armed with a screwdriver.

“He threw the computer on the staff and then tried to get the till and asked them to open the till.”

Police at the scene of the aggravated robbery at the Melrose Liquor store. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Kanakia said his staff locked the man in the store when they were “lucky enough to escape”.

“He tried to get out with the fire extinguisher inside the store but was [unable] to do so,” Kanakia said.

He then made his way to the back room, where he managed to escape out of the store room roof, hiding in nearby bushes until he was found by police.

Kanakia said this is the second time in two months his store has been attacked by aggravated robbers.

In March three men armed with guns demanded cash.

The same month six “kids” stormed another nearby store armed with hammers and knives.

He had applied to the crime prevention fund, but at the time he applied they had not yet been the victim of an armed robbery, so was denied.

The offender smashed the store with a fire extinguisher when he was locked inside / Hayden Woodward

“I said, ‘What do you want to wait till something does happen? And then you make it qualify?’ How funny is that?

“People commit these crimes with a mindset where they know that, ‘No one’s gonna hurt us or nothing’s gonna happen to us’, even if they commit a crime

“I think it’s more for fun for them, to destroy a business, to risk a life.

“No one really wants to work in a customer-facing job now because it’s risky, it’s life-threatening and for what? Like a bottle or a few $100 or a few boxes of cigarettes?

“So, it’s come down to that where probably your life value is less than a $40 packet of cigarettes.”

A police spokesperson said police received reports at 5.25pm of a person entering a store with a weapon demanding cash.

“The offender then fled the scene on foot, however, the Police Eagle helicopter tracked him and by 5.40pm he was arrested by police.”

A 38-year-old is due in Auckland District Court tomorrow charged with aggravated robbery.

No one else is being sought in relation to the robbery.