Countdown Silverdale trolley theft: Two women steal more than $400 of food and wine from supermarket

Police are hunting for two “aggressive” and “entitled” women who stole a trolley loaded with $400 worth of food and wine from an Auckland supermarket.

Video sent to the Herald shows a tussle for the trolley outside Countdown Silverdale between a Countdown employee and the thieves, who run off with a bottle of wine and the worker’s phone on Sunday.

The two women can be heard yelling obscenities as they run towards the Silverdale mall car park after the heist.

Senior Sergeant Roger Small says two women are wanted after stealing a trolley with $400 worth of goods at Countdown Silverdale at around 1pm on Sunday.

“This was a brazen theft and the offenders’ attitude towards supermarket staff was one of entitlement and aggression.”

An eyewitness, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed to see one of the women filling a trolley with items like wine, chips and crackers before trying to push it out through the entrance, where her accomplice was waiting.

The thieves at Countdown Silverdale tussled with a staff member after the $400 robbery. Photo / supplied

“They tried to take chips ... [nothing they took was] too essential, to be honest.”

The eyewitness said two employees tried to stop one of the thieves before a tug-of-war over the trolley ensued.

The robbers were later stopped in the car park by other bystanders who also recovered the employee’s phone which had been dropped while running.

Police say they are reviewing CCTV and other footage to find those responsible for this “significant theft”.

Countdown Silverdale, when contacted for comment, said the theft has been referred to the police.

The incident comes as supermarkets sound the alarm over a spike in retail theft - with some even fitting bodycams on staff in response to the issue.

Countdown’s rival, Foodstuffs, earlier this month said they’d been a worrying increase in retail crime and vicious assaults on staff across its 320 supermarkets in the North Island.

Foodstuffs also released disturbing footage of offenders, including one wielding an iron bar, attacking workers.

Another person was caught on video aggressively punching a staff member in the head.

Serious incidents such as burglary, assault, robbery, and other aggressive, violent, and threatening behaviour have gone up by 36 per cent year on year between February and April, Foodstuffs said.

“Our grocers have never seen retail crime at these levels. It’s an extremely concerning trend and it’s unacceptable,” chief executive of Foodstuffs North Island Chris Quin said earlier this month.

“Retail crime is coming through the front doors of grocery stores and impacting our teams every day. Grocers are focused on keeping their people safe and that means investing in de-escalation and conflict management training and helping people to cope in a situation which involves aggression.”