Watch: Hamilton Fresh Choice owner injured as adult enlists kids to steal

A Hamilton store owner is injured after being pushed by a woman who enlisted the help of a preschooler to steal.

Fresh Choice Flagstaff store owner Ashfaq Farooqi was disheartened to see an adult teaching a young child to steal out of a display trolley.

“They were helping their mum, and they were showing to their mum what they [wanted].

“In my opinion, I think she was educating them how to do it [steal].”

CCTV footage of the incident shows a small child helping a woman take items from a trolley and stuff them into a duffle bag.

Farooqi – who suffered a heart attack following an armed robbery last year – and other staff approached the woman who was also holding an infant. She refuses to open her bag, while the other child stands and watches the incident unfold.

Members of the public intervene and try to get the woman to return the stolen items, but as the incident escalates she pushes Farooqi to the ground.

“I had a broken elbow, but I was very lucky, that [the fall] didn’t hurt me a lot.”

Reports from Penrose-based charity Kindness Collective indicated many children and teenagers are resorting to stealing to meet basic needs such as food and clothing.

CCTV footage shows a woman trying to steal from Fresh Choice Flagstaff, with help from a child, on November 2.

A study released in August found the soaring price of food is taking a major toll on Kiwi children’s physical and mental health, with the poorest Kiwi kids going without healthy food.

Farooqi said he had hoped the change in Government would help improve the situation at his store after the National Party campaigned on reducing crime, but he said the Government’s promises had not come to fruition.

“I think it’s getting worse.

“The Prime Minister, he promised that he will boost the security and the safety of the people. But I think he might have his own priorities or something, or he forgot.”

The grocery sector has also faced increasing criticism in recent years, with the Commerce Commission investigating misleading pricing and concluding that there is no meaningful improvement in competition to result in lower prices for Kiwis.

In August, the Commission fined Foodstuffs North Island $3.25 million for trying to block competition.

Farooqi, who has owned the store for 26 years, said he is dedicated to continuing his business, even after he suffered a heart attack following an armed robbery last year.

“I had a heart attack last year when (burglars) had a gun.

“I can’t walk properly, I can’t work properly,” Farooqi said.

Police confirmed they were called at about 5.15pm after a report of a woman taking items from a commercial premises on November 2.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of what has occurred, and to locate those involved,” a police spokesperson said.

Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.