Rotorua dairy owner and father fight off hammer-wielding alleged robber

A Rotorua dairy owner has described how he and his father fought back with a hockey stick and a cricket bat against an alleged would-be robber who entered the store armed with a hammer in broad daylight.

It’s the second time this year the hockey stick has come out in an effort to defend one of Harshminder Singh’s businesses in the city.

Harshminder owns the Kawaha Point Dairy and adjoining Liquor Centre on Chapman Place. Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post after Tuesday’s incident, he said he had been standing at the dairy counter when a man walked in at about 2pm.

Harshminder claimed the man had his mouth covered and began swinging a hammer around, hitting stands and smashing Harshminder’s phone on the counter in front of him.

He said the man began shouting at him to put money and cigarettes into a bag he was carrying. Harshminder said he was so scared he forgot how to open the ‘till.

Seeing this happen on the shared CCTV footage, Harshminder’s 64-year-old father Darshan Singh came running from the liquor store to help, arriving within a few minutes of the man. But the man was still swinging the hammer and ignored pleas to calm down.

“[My father] just tried to tell him, but he came with the hammer to hit him.”

Doing as he was told, Harshminder managed to open the till and began putting some cash into the bag that had been thrown at him.

Kawaha Point Dairy and Liquor Centre owner Harshminder Singh shows the injuries he received from an alleged robber. Photo / Laura Smith

He put $125 into it, and the man headed back outside, where he ran into Darshan - this time wielding a hockey stick for protection against the hammer.

“He noticed he was not going to go. If we didn’t have anything he was going to hit [Darshan].”

With a cricket bat, Harshminder followed the man outside and said he was struck in the side of the head, lip and arm with the hammer. Darshan was hit in the knee.

“I was really scared. If he hit my father, what was going to happen?

“He has a hammer. If he hit the hammer on his head or his face, he could die, anything could happen.”

The three fought for about five minutes before Harshminder was able to grab the hammer-wielding hand.

The pair held the man down for about five minutes until the police arrived, Darshan and another person having called them. The money was given back to Harshminder and his statement was taken.

“He was asking, ‘just leave me’.”

The whole ordeal lasted no longer than 10 minutes, he said.

Police could be seen at Kawaha Point Dairy on Tuesday afternoon. Photo / Ben Fraser

Harshminder has owned the business since 2015 and said things had generally been calm until this year. He said incidents like this had happened three or four times in 2022, he said.

The last was only a few months ago. The hockey stick was also used then to ward off the would-be robbers.

“It’s really bad... and it’s daytime, someone coming with a hammer into the shop.

“This is unacceptable. We never thought it would happen in the daytime.”

At night the shop was closed, with only a window for customers to purchase through. But Harshminder said it was not possible to do this all the time.

His father was visiting from India and Harshminder said the incident left him with a bad impression.

Darshan was taken to hospital by his wife to get checked over after the ordeal.

Police outside Kawaha Point Dairy on Tuesday afternoon. Photo / Ben Fraser

Police said staff responded to reports of an alleged robbery at a commercial premises in Chapman Place on Tuesday about 2.25pm.

Police have apprehended a young person in relation to the matter.