Two men arrested after Te Puke Jewellers burglary

Te Puke Jewellers owners Rod and Jannine Pearce, pictured inside their Rotorua store after it was ram-raided in October. Photo / Andrew Warner

Two men have been arrested and charged with burglary after breaking into Te Puke Jewellers.

Police officers in Te Puke came across two people breaking into the store using metal tools around 2.05am on Sunday, a spokesperson said.

“Officers tracked them to nearby Jubilee Park, where they were arrested.”

A 22-year-old man was charged with burglary and with possessing instruments for burglary, and a 34-year-old man was charged with burglary and had an existing warrant for his arrest.

The pair are expected to appear in Tauranga District Court today..

Robbers broke into Te Puke Jewellers with a crowbar at about 2am on Sunday.

The police spokesperson said a quantity of jewellery was taken from the store and police had completed a forensic examination.

Rod Pearce and his wife Janine have owned Te Puke Jewellers for 15 years. In that time, the store has suffered from about 30 burglaries or attempted break-ins, with more than $80,000 worth of jewellery and watches stolen. Prior to this incident, it had been the victim of two break-ins earlier this year.

Pearce was alerted to the burglary by the store’s security system about 2am.

Pearce said he would never become numb to being the victim of crime.

“It just shocks you. It’s devastating,” Pearce told the Bay of Plenty Times.

Te Puke Jewellers has been targeted by robbers for the third time in six months.

“Financially, it’s horrendous. Insurance covers less than a third of what’s really affected.”

Pearce said the burglaries in his store were affecting his mental health.

“We worry about our staff - that weighs on our minds.”

Pearce said the next steps were to repair the shop and check the returned items for damage.

“Now we’ve got to go through stocktakes. That will take hours.”

But Pearce said he and his wife were “really lucky” to have the help and support of the Te Puke community.

“It’s such a relief to be able to make a phone call and [have] people rock up to help. We’re halfway there already in the shop clean-up.”