Police arrest two youth after vandalism; Whangārei dairy burgled

The Korna Store in Morningside, which was robbed by a group of youths. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Two youth were arrested last night and one bitten by a police dog after vandalising cars near a Liquorland on Kamo Rd in Whangārei.

Police was called out at around 6.30pm on Tuesday night after reports of two vehicles being vandalised by youth.

Earlier that evening, at around 5pm, burglars had robbed The Korna Store dairy in Morningside stealing cash and cigarettes and fleeing with two stolen cars.

The owner had locked himself in a room inside the dairy to hide from the intruders.

"A couple of cars pulled up and six young kids came in with a hammer," the owner, who did not want to be named, told the Advocate.

He went straight into the back room, and fortunately no other staff were present at the time, he said.

One customer was in the shop at the time, but managed to get out the door.

"One jumped over the counter, they took smokes and cash. They took the till as well," the owner said.

The dairy was ram raided in 2017, but there had been no robberies or burglaries since then, he added.

No arrests were made at the time but the cars were later found abandoned in Raumanga.

It is not clear if both incidents are related.