The owner of a ram-raided Rotorua liquor store says masked crooks did about $60,000 worth of damage to steal little more than “a couple of bloody Woodstocks”.
Westbrook Liquor Centre owner Ranjit Singh, who lives in Tauranga, is worried for his staff and does not feel safe after the early morning incident targeting a business that is his livelihood.
Singh said he was woken about 3.30am by a call from his security company after a car, believed to be a Toyota Aqua, started ramming into the back doors of his Malfroy Rd store.
He could only watch on his security cameras as three thieves ransacked the store and smashed thousands of dollars worth of booze. Singh said they drove off as police approached “like they were going to the park”.
Police say they arrived shortly after being called and decided not to pursue the thieves for safety reasons. Inquiries continued and no arrests had been made.
Security footage shows the car backing into the doors five times to make a big enough gap to run inside, stepping over a carpet of broken bottles. Singh said there were two roller doors protected by a steel door.
The thieves only loaded a few boxes into the car before police arrived, then dropped some in their haste to scramble back into the car and escape.
Singh told the Rotorua Daily Post the offenders caused an estimated $60,000 worth of damage in less than eight minutes.
That included about $10,000 to $15,000 in damaged or stolen stock, with “at least 100 wine bottles smashed”.
“There were nearly 200 boxes of beers that I put in the bin today,” Singh said, as he cleaned up the damage on Tuesday.
He estimated the thieves got away with only $1000 worth of stock.
“They only took a couple of bloody Woodstocks, that’s all.”
Singh was also counting the cost of chillers damaged, along with the building itself.
“Two roller doors are about $10,000-$20,000, the exterior wall has been damaged and will be about $15,000.”
Singh said burglars avoided the cigarette area at the front of the store where fog cannons were installed.
“They tried to take money but the till was empty and open.”
The damaged property and his scared staff caused the business owner the most concern.
The liquor store is connected to the Westbrook Tavern, which he also owned.
He said his bar staff were helping clean the store and, despite wearing gloves, had been left with cut hands due to all the broken glass.
Security footage showed a police car arriving minutes after the break-in began, then seemingly waiting nearby as the ram-raid vehicle drove off.
They had been called by both his security company and his neighbours alerted by the sound of glass breaking, Singh said.
With his livelihood and staff safety on the line, he said he no longer “felt safe” and feared the thieves would return.
“These guys know they have easy access to the shop,” he said.
He planned to sleep in his car outside the store as an additional safety measure.
“I don’t want my staff to feel unsafe inside. These are not just my staff, they are my friends and family.”
He said he immigrated to New Zealand from Punjab in 2000 and bought the business in 2018, struggling to build it up for “too many years”.
This was the second incident where it had been damaged in six months.
“I’m feeling scared to live here, I’m not feeling safe.”
The bar and liquor store would be closed at least until Thursday while repairs were made.
All the repairs would take up to three weeks, he said.
A police spokesperson said police were investigating after the burglary shortly after 3.30am on Tuesday.
They said it appeared a vehicle stolen from a car dealership on Fairy Springs Rd was used to gain entry to the commercial premises.
Police were called during the burglary so it was “given a P1, high-priority response, and police immediately responded to the area”.
“Police arrived a short time later, disturbing those involved which then fled the scene in a vehicle, safety considerations were made, and the decision was made not pursue, instead noting as much information as possible for follow up inquiries.”
Inquiries to determine what was taken and locate those involved were ongoing.
Aleyna Martinez is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. She moved to the region in 2024 and has previously reported in Wairarapa and at Pacific Media Network.