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
  • 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

Whakatāne ram raid: Vape store building structure shifts while $8000 worth of products stolen

Cira Olivier
By Cira Olivier
Multimedia Journalist, Bay of Plenty Times·Bay of Plenty Times·
20 Jun, 2023 02:09 AM3 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

Thieves targeted a Whakatāne vape store on Tuesday morning.

Thieves targeted a Whakatāne vape store on Tuesday morning.

Dramatic footage shows three masked thieves ramming their way into a Bay of Plenty vape store before stealing $8000 worth of products.

Boom Vape Shop in Whakatāne has been forced to close temporarily due to the damage caused by the burglary early this morning.

CCTV footage shows a car pulling up to the kerb before getting in position and ramming the shop’s storefront and bollard twice.

The door can be seen falling and the front of the car falls off.

Two masked people jump out of the car while a third person runs in from a car parked on the street.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They then spend a few seconds trying to get through perspex protection in the store by kicking it and trying to use an object to pry it open, with no luck.

Thieves targeted a Whakatāne vape store on Tuesday morning.
Thieves targeted a Whakatāne vape store on Tuesday morning.

They all move out of the doorway, with one of them jumping back in the car and ramming it into the door again with more force, causing smoke to come out of the car.

The entire building shakes and products can be seen falling to the ground.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The trio are seen running back in and prying open the perspex with ease before taking several loads of products from the top shelf.

At one stage two of the thieves run into each other, dropping products in the process.

They can be seen running to the second vehicle parked on the road, dropping the vape products, but returning to pick them up before getting in the second vehicle.

Police said they were called to the burglary on Goulstone Rd around 4.59am and were making inquiries to find those involved.

Boom Vape Shop owner Pawik Patel said they knew “exactly what they wanted and went for the most expensive brand and took all of it”.

He said they targeted two major brands of disposable vapes valued at about $8000.

Thieves targeted a Whakatāne vape store on Tuesday morning.
Thieves targeted a Whakatāne vape store on Tuesday morning.

While he was unsure exactly what the repairs would cost, he said it would be more than the value of the goods stolen. The aluminum door alone cost $3000.

The impact of the vehicle, seen in the CCTV footage, knocked the bollards in front of the store crooked.

Patel said the store would remain closed most likely until the weekend as they waited for a new door to arrive.

The “building structure has shifted” which meant it couldn’t open until the building’s internal beam and structure had been secured which would then allow the door to be installed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The store was also “brand new” and had only been open for five months.

”All we can do is suffer.”

While this was the first time his new vape store had been targeted, his superette was both held up and ram-raided on separate occasions in 2021.

More to come.

Cira Olivier is a social issues and breaking news reporter for NZME Bay of Plenty. She has been a journalist since 2019.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

'I hate him': Partner of slain Tribesman lays blame for death at president's feet

18 Jun 03:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Baby-killing Mobster loathed being called 'kid killer' in prison, so he murdered again

18 Jun 12:40 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Just having a breather': Volcanic plume prompts social media buzz

17 Jun 11:45 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'I hate him': Partner of slain Tribesman lays blame for death at president's feet

'I hate him': Partner of slain Tribesman lays blame for death at president's feet

18 Jun 03:00 AM

Mark 'Shark' Hohua was allegedly killed in a 'hot-box' beating for spending gang funds.

Baby-killing Mobster loathed being called 'kid killer' in prison, so he murdered again

Baby-killing Mobster loathed being called 'kid killer' in prison, so he murdered again

18 Jun 12:40 AM
'Just having a breather': Volcanic plume prompts social media buzz

'Just having a breather': Volcanic plume prompts social media buzz

17 Jun 11:45 PM
Silence of the fans:  Chiefs supporters told to leave cowbells at home

Silence of the fans: Chiefs supporters told to leave cowbells at home

17 Jun 11:41 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

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
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • 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