Tuakau Pizza store burglary caught on security camera

Security cameras have captured the moment thieves smashed through a Waikato pizza shop's glass entrance before hunting around for cash.

The thieves also struck two neighbouring takeaway stores, making off with cash and soft drinks.

Tuakau Pizza manager Sukhdev Dharmshot said the "shocking" break-ins were "scary" for normally sleepy Tuakau.

Two men can be seen brandishing a tyre wrench outside the front window of Tuakau Pizza - located on Dominion Rd, Tuakau, near Pōkeno and 55km south of Auckland city - before kicking away the remainder of the smashed glass and entering.

One of the men quickly rips the store's cash till away and rushes outside with it.

The duo also raid the drinks fridge, carrying away cartons of soft drinks.

Neighbouring Sushi Magic and Thai Shack were also smashed-and-entered.

Luckily the thieves made off with few valuable items from Tuakau Pizza as the team emptied the cash register every night, Dharmshot said.

"I don't know what they were expecting," he said.

"What they gonna get from there, just only the drinks and some little bit of coins."

Inside the store after thieves broke in. Photo / Supplied

The thieves left smashed cash registers outside. Photo / Supplied

He said he had never experienced trouble like this in the previous nine years he had been working in the area.

However, in recent weeks there had been a spate of burglaries in the Tuakau area, Dharmshot said.

That had left his staff feeling scared, especially as they worked late at night and some were females, he said.

"We find it very hard because we are not feeling safe over here anymore," he said.

Dharmshot said the men broke in about 3am today. Police were only called later in the morning when the burglaries were discovered.

A police spokeswoman said officers were called shortly before 7am following a report of burglaries at three Dominion Rd premises.

"The stores have been entered and items taken," she said.

"Police are making inquiries."

Thieves smashed through the glass windows of Tuakau Pizza but made off with few valuables. Photo / Supplied

Police investigate the brazen overnight burglary of three takeaway stores south of Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Dharmshot said the store was surrounded by nearby homes so it was surprising nobody heard the break-ins at the time.

However, perhaps it was because the residents were away for school holidays.

He said he understood a stolen Nissan hatchback had been abandoned by the thieves outside the store.

The car was apparently owned by a Tuakau local and had only been stolen minutes earlier, with the thieves using it to drive to the scene, according to what Dharmshot had heard.

Damaged cash registers and tills had also been left abandoned outside the stores, he said.