Napier dairy ram-raid confirms shop owner’s worst fears

The Ahuriri Corner Store on Bridge St in Ahuriri, Napier, was targeted by burglars in a ram raid early Wednesday morning. Photo / Paul Taylor

The owner of the Ahuriri Corner Store in Napier says fears for her safety as a small business owner have grown in the last few years, after the shop was hit by a ram-raid early on Wednesday morning.

A police spokesperson said police were alerted to the burglary of a convenience store in Ahuriri, Napier at 3.50am on Wednesday.

“A vehicle, which had been reported stolen, was used to gain access to the premises,” the police spokesperson said.

“The vehicle was left at the premises. Police are making enquiries to establish what was taken and what damage was done in the incident.”

The store owner, who told Hawke’s Bay Today she wished to remain anonymous for her and her family’s safety, said she was out of the region when she heard the store had been broken into.

“I was struggling to decide if I should go back because I was halfway. This has made my whole life super hard.”

She said four people could be seen breaking into the store on CCTV footage and they appeared to be young.

“You can tell they are young people because they move quite easily, jumping over the counter, from height, over the freezers,” she said.

She said they had not yet counted how much stock was taken, but the stolen goods included vapes and drinks.

“Because our till had nothing in it, they were super angry and smashed our till on the ground, luckily it was still working today but I am not sure it will be working on another day,” she said.

A stolen vehicle was used to gain access to the convenience store and left at the scene. Photo / Paul Taylor

“They took our whole vape shelf away and they took some drinks.”

She said they were unable to open the shop all day on Wednesday due to the damage.

“The front door could take up to a few months [to be fixed].”

She said she has previously approached the Napier City Council for bollards to be installed out the front but hadn’t met the criteria.

“Now we should meet the criteria after we have just been ram-raided,” she said.

She said incidents like this were making it very difficult to be a small business.

“At the moment I am not feeling safe with the whole society, it is just the changes in the last few years feel not safe at all,” she said.

“This is why we have to take everything back home at night and we can’t have any holiday together as a family, because someone needs to be there to drop off and take back everything.”

The entrance to the store was boarded up on Wednesday morning.

A sign in a window reads: “No cigarettes and cash kept on the premises at night.”