Rex and Fiona Wilson at the boarded-up Gold & Gifts, with friend Jackie Lavell sweeping up the last of the broken glass. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Rex and Fiona Wilson at the boarded-up Gold & Gifts, with friend Jackie Lavell sweeping up the last of the broken glass. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Three youths have been arrested after a ram raid in Paihia on Sunday night targeted a gift shop owned by the town’s long-serving volunteer fire chief.
The alleged offenders, aged 13, 15 and 16, were caught in Whangārei early Monday morning.
The Advocate understands their vehicle aroused the suspicions of police who identified the car as stolen and linked to the ram raid.
They were arrested on a public holiday so the two older youths were held in custody overnight and appeared in the Whangārei Youth Court yesterday morning.
The 15-year-old is due back in Whangārei Youth Court on Friday and the 16-year-old is due in Kaikohe Youth Court today.
The offenders allegedly stole a builder’s ute from Te Ngaere, north of Matauri Bay, and used it to ram Gold n Gifts on Williams Rd in central Paihia at 11.39pm on Sunday.
The shop sells jewellery, watches and gifts and is owned by fire chief Rex Wilson and his wife Fiona.
The shop’s security grille remained mostly intact but the rear of the ute punched a hole just big enough for two offenders to clamber through.
After allegedly smashing a number of display cabinets in the shop and taking watches, it is alleged they stole a backpacker’s car from a nearby street and dumped the ute.
A police spokesperson said the backpacker’s car, and the stolen watches, had been recovered in Whangārei.
Items in the backpacker’s car were dumped on a roadside in Paihia. Rex Wilson found them on the night of the break-in and returned them to her the following day.
A stolen ute was used to ram the security grille, punching a hole only just big enough to clamber through.
Wilson said high-end watches were taken in the burglary along with “an armful” of G-Shock watches.
The most valuable items were not left in the shop overnight and the raiders ignored most of the jewellery.
At the time Wilson said he couldn’t understand the offenders’ lack of respect for other people’s livelihoods, but he’d been heartened by the support from Paihia residents.
“That’s why we like living in a small community. We like it even more now,” he said.
Extra security is in place at the shop until the security grille can be replaced.
