Rotorua FreshChoice store targeted as Bay of Plenty records increase in car thefts, ram-raids

Police were called to Freshchoice on Te Ngae Rd at 6.10am. A vehicle was reported leaving the scene. Photo / Maryana Garcia

Rotorua's FreshChoice supermarket is the latest victim in a string of property damage incidents plaguing Bay of Plenty retailers.

Police were called to the Te Ngae Rd supermarket just after 6am on Saturday.

Officers were responding to reports of a vehicle leaving the scene, and windows broken in the storefront.

A Rotorua Daily Post reporter who visited the store on Saturday afternoon said two windows were boarded up. One large window had no glass left and its frame appeared to have been bent out of shape.

A police spokesperson said it was unclear if the store was the victim of a ram-raid and police were following up with inquiries.

FreshChoice's store manager declined to comment.

The incident is the latest in a series of similar events in the Bay of Plenty in recent weeks.

The Caltex on Amohau St, Rotorua was another smash-and-grab target. Photo / File

At 12.30am on Friday Police were called to the Caltex petrol station on Amohau St after receiving reports that someone had smashed the front window of the store with a weapon and stolen some items.

None have resulted in injuries but police were continuing to investigate.

On July 19 the Ngongotahā Four Square shop was targeted in a ram-raid in which the offenders made off with cigarettes, Instant Kiwi scratchies and booze.

Ngongotahā Four Square owner Crystal Plummer said their alarm went off about 5.30am.

"We came to see the store had been broken into. What was taken was cigarettes, scratchy tickets and alcohol."

Police at the Ngongotahā Four Square on the morning of July 20. Photo / File

Days later, Whakatāne's Michael Hill Jewellers was also damaged in a ram-raid.

Two offenders were caught on CCTV ramming the front of the jewellery store with a white flat-deck ute, smashing, then gaining entry through the shattered glass door.

The camera footage showed the two offenders using a tomahawk to smash the store's glass cabinets and making off with thousands of dollars in merchandise.

Late in June, owners of the Haumurana Store were jolted awake when a truck was used to crash into the business, which doubles as their home.

Harjinder Kaur said at the time she could hear someone repeating: "Where's the f***ng smokes?"

The would-be robbers left empty-handed after the store's alarm sounded.

Taupō police senior sergeant Phil Edwards said police were seeing a rise in car thefts across the Bay of Plenty and some of those cars are then being used in ram raids.

"The Investigations Group is currently working with our colleagues in Rotorua and Whakatane to identify who is responsible and hold them accountable."