Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Staff left in fear after another liquor store incident

Kelly Makiha
By Kelly Makiha
Multimedia Journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
28 May, 2017 06:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Police at the scene tonight. Photo/Supplied

Police at the scene tonight. Photo/Supplied

The owner of a Rotorua bottle store chain that has been hit twice in less than a week says a tough new police campaign cracking down on criminals can't come soon enough.

However, he says tougher sentences are needed to curb the spiralling number of robberies and thefts.

The Bottle O store on Fairy Springs Rd was the scene of another incident at the weekend after a woman allegedly tried to run out of the store with a box of alcohol.

The woman tripped and police were able to arrest her within 12 seconds, as they happened to be passing.

The incident followed a violent aggravated robbery last Sunday when a store worker was hit over the head with a hammer, resulting in the worker being hospitalised for a night for a deep gash to his head.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Store owner Charanjit Dhillon, who owns four other Bottle O stores in Rotorua and one in Tauranga, said his staff were fearful of everyone walking into their stores, despite him spending $32,000 on security cameras in recent months.

Two young men are charged in relation to last Sunday's aggravated robbery and a 17-year-old woman was charged with theft for Saturday's incident.

Police last week announced a national campaign - "There's nothing good about stolen property" - in response to a steady stream of aggravated robberies at dairies, service stations and other retailers throughout New Zealand.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush said that alongside the campaign, there would be new robbery-specific taskforces and more staff on foot patrols to thwart thieves. Cash rewards would also be offered.

Mr Dhillon said his worker from last weekend's incident was still very shaken.

"He cries every time I speak to him. He doesn't feel like working."

Mr Dhillon said he too was upset and shaken from the latest incident.

When he spoke to the Rotorua Daily Post on Saturday night not long after the alleged theft, he said "my legs are still shaking".

Mr Dhillon said his staff now feared every customer was a potential thief.

"They are scared to come to work ... we think they (customers) are robbers."

He said he had a feeling something was going to happened on Saturday so further strengthened his security by putting in more cameras outside.

Speaking generally about the police's new campaign, Mr Dhillon said he wanted to see younger offenders targeted more.

"Kids are controlling this country. If kids are under control there will be a better New Zealand.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Eighteen Lotto players win over $19k each – where tickets were sold

11 May 04:29 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'About time': Residents sick of 'boy racers' back Govt plan to toughen laws

11 May 04:25 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Swift destruction of boy racer vehicles proposed, more powers for police

10 May 10:24 PM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Eighteen Lotto players win over $19k each – where tickets were sold

Eighteen Lotto players win over $19k each – where tickets were sold

11 May 04:29 AM

Two players shared the First Division prize, snagging $500,000 each.

'About time': Residents sick of 'boy racers' back Govt plan to toughen laws

'About time': Residents sick of 'boy racers' back Govt plan to toughen laws

11 May 04:25 AM
Swift destruction of boy racer vehicles proposed, more powers for police

Swift destruction of boy racer vehicles proposed, more powers for police

10 May 10:24 PM
'Devastating to see': Family battles for toddler's movement progress

'Devastating to see': Family battles for toddler's movement progress

10 May 10:00 PM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP