Dramatic footage of the moment Rotorua Councillor Raj Kumar's dairy was robbed by young men wielding a hammer and pole has been captured on security camera.
Dramatic footage of the moment Rotorua Councillor Raj Kumar's dairy was robbed by young men wielding a hammer and pole has been captured on security camera.
"It all happened in less than two minutes," Kumar told the Rotorua Daily Post this morning. The offenders, who Kumar described as "young boys",entered his store on the corner of Springfield and Otonga Rds about 6.30pm on Sunday.
He said they were armed with a "hammer and a pole".
One of them jumped the counter to try to get money from the till, while the other headed straight to the cigarette cabinet.
The worker on at the time ran to a nearby fish and chip shop to ring the police, as the criminals left in a car with cigarettes.
When the Rotorua Daily Post initially reported the robbery, more than 100 comments of support flowed in for Kumar and his family.
Many sent their love and best wishes, while others expressed outrage at something like this happening to such a "hardworking family".
"Your family have the community's support," one commenter wrote.
Springfield Superette this morning. Photo / Andrew Warner
Kumar said he would be putting an extra person on each night for safety and already had a good security system and CCTV cameras in place.
"We are not vigilantes, we are not fighters ... my staff know they can do what they have to do to keep safe in these situations.
He said he had always told his staff to protect themselves first and that the money and items did not matter when it came to safety.
"I tell them not to try to be a hero or fight back."
Kumar would be offering counselling to the worker involved, as well as giving him leave for as long as he needed.
The robbers had left fingerprints on many surfaces they touched, which police came and collected straight away, he said.
He had a strong faith in the system after his local restaurant Nandos was robbed in 2009 and DNA from a leftover Fanta bottle lead to the arrest of the person involved, he said.
