Store owner Binu Thomas says he is struggling with stress and he fears for the safety of his young children. Photo Paul Taylor
Store owner Binu Thomas says he is struggling with stress and he fears for the safety of his young children. Photo Paul Taylor
A Napier dairy owner fears for his family’s safety after a ram raid smashed through his store only days after the glass had been repaired from an earlier burglary.
Police tape was visible around the patched-up broken glass front of the Manna Family Mart on Marine Parade this morning.
Store owner Binu Thomas says he is struggling with stress and he feared for the safety of his three and five-year-old children.
“Every night I can’t sleep, I just wake up to look at the camera and see what is happening there,” Thomas said.
He said this time of year was usually one of the worst for ram raids and they had only just finished fixing the glass from a burglary a couple of weeks ago.
“We had two doors before. The second time they came through the roof so we put nails on the roof, the third time they broke through the door so we put a shutter on and then another time it was the glass so we put on grills but it was missing one and this has happened two times now.”
He said this time the perpetrators had taken some ice cream, chips and soft drinks, but previously he has had about $10,000 worth of vapes stolen and they often smashed anything they could find in the store.
He said no insurance company wants to insure him because of the continuous burglaries, so he is left without any insurance for what he estimates is another $10,000 worth of damage.
He said burglars in previous incidents have been caught and the offenders were usually youths.
“They will get the people, but they are underaged so they won’t do anything,” he said.
“Maybe they tell their friends that nothing will happen, you can go next time.”
Police have located the vehicle used to force entry into the building during the burglary. Photo / Warren Buckland
A police spokesman said a vehicle was used to gain entry during a burglary about 1.30am.
He said fog cannons in the store were activated.
Police recovered the vehicle used in the burglary and a scene examination will take place today.
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
