Video shows the moment a jewellery store was targeted during a daylight robbery in Ellerslie, Auckland. Video / Supplied
Locals and retailers attempted to stop brazen hammer-wielding robbers who targeted an Ellerslie jeweller in broad daylight this afternoon, with one woman narrowly escaping being run over by the getaway car.
Video of the heist, provided to the Herald, shows several people trying to impede the robbers as they made an escape from Ellerslie Jewellers & Engravers on Main Highway in Auckland.
Two women chase the robbers across the road before being threatened with a hammer, the footage shows. As the car drives away one of the women is knocked to the ground, she later told the Herald she was uninjured.
Earlier in the video, one man attempts to break the windscreen of the getaway car with a chair, another seemingly tries to slash a rear tyre and a third man opens the driver’s door looking for the keys.
A still from the video of the robbery. Photo / Supplied
The spokesperson said the alleged offenders are now assisting police with their inquiries.
The men who robbed a jewellery store on the Main Highway at Ellerslie are chased by bystanders. Photo / Jason Knight
John Rennell, the owner of Ellerslie Jewellers & Engravers, was not there at the time of the attack, but his daughter was. She was pushed into the back room by the manager and told to “get down”, Rennell told the Herald.
He described his disappointment over “big ticket items” being amongst those stolen, and the terrible timing of the attack.
“We work all year to stockpile jewellery for the Christmas period, it is so disappointing to see it disappear in front of your eyes,” Rennell said.
Rennell also said he had two police officers attend his store some weeks ago as a part of the Small Retailer Crime Prevention Fund to attempt to qualify for smoke cannons and other added security measures.
The officers left the store after telling him his security was “up to scratch.”
Rennell couldn’t estimate how much jewellery was taken today or the value but said it was “a lot”, while many items were also strewn along the footpath and road after the raid.
A group of men who robbed a jewellery store on the Main Highway at Ellerslie are chased by workers from the store and local bystanders. Photo / Jason Knight
Epsom MP and Act leader David Seymour said Ellerslie Jewellers had asked Police Minister Chris Hipkins for support back in August, but had been turned away.
Seymour provided an email sent by Hipkins’ office to Ellerslie Jewellers & Engravers on August 22, which said: “The funding available to access the $6 million support package to help protect businesses from ram raids is not contestable, and retailers are not able to apply for funding.”
The email went on to state that police are identifying eligible shops based on “past victimisations” and after “weighted criteria” to prioritise which shops receive assistance first.
“This approach has been chosen because it’s targeted, it creates equity by removing barriers to applying to the fund, and because evidence shows that once a location has been victimised it’s more likely to be re-offended against unless an intervention occurs.”
A group of men who robbed a jewellery store on the Main Highway at Ellerslie are chased by workers and bystanders. Photo / Jason Knight
Seymour said the offenders allegedly used hammers and machetes to smash the store’s cabinets today.
“I visited Ellerslie Jewellers immediately after it was robbed, every cabinet had been smashed and nearly all the jewellery had been taken,” Seymour said.
“As a local MP I am spending more and more time visiting business owners who have been devastated by these attacks. We can’t leave them sitting and waiting in fear that they might be next.”
A bystander is injured after trying to stop the getaway vehicle. Photo / Jason Knight
David Seymour standing outside the Ellerslie Jewellers and Engravers, with owner John Rennell, after it was robbed this afternoon. Photo / Supplied.
