A Green Bay dairy was broken into three times in the space of 36 hours in late October. "We have decided to close the business permanently and leave the property," said the owners. Video / Supplied
A terrified Auckland family are trying to leave their dairy after it was targeted three times by criminals in 36 hours while the family’s young children slept next door.
Aatif Khan told the Herald the thefts have cost his Green Bay business $32,000 during the spree, and he will be out of pocket a further $130,000 once he leaves the business due to how unsafe it has become.
But the decision to walk away from the business was easy for Khan - he wanted to protect his young children, with the dairy adjoining the family home. Only a door separates the potentially armed thieves from his young children, aged 9, 8 and 6.
The burglaries cost Khan's business $32,000 in just 36 hours. Photo / Dean Purcell
Khan moved to New Zealand in 2019, a decision made to “keep his children safe”, he said.
“So I have to take the losses or I have to be safe with my kids because we are, we actually went from our country to [be] safe living in New Zealand and safety was our primary concern,” Khan said.
“It will remain our primary concern this time also.”
Khan said the first theft occurred on Sunday when a man brazenly stole food in the middle of the day.
Twelve hours later, two men used a hammer against the glass door and stole the cash register.
The shop was targeted again at midnight on Tuesday when four people broke the newly-replaced glass to steal cartons of cigarettes, other tobacco products and vapes.
Security footage shows four masked burglars kicking in the glass repeatedly before successfully entering the store.
They then take crowbars to the cupboards behind the counter, completely gutting the shelves, while others race around the store looking for more goods to steal.
Only when the burglars had spent a full two minutes and 30 seconds in the store did the fog cannons activate, prompting the offenders to finally end their attack.
“The burglars have even tried entering the house from the back door and have broken the glass of the car parked outside at the back door,” Khan said.
“Me and my family are shocked and terrified due to these incidents and my kids are too frightened to stay at the property anymore.”
Aatif Khan's young children were left terrified after the burglars tried to enter their home through the back door. Photo / Dean Purcell
Khan said he was not informed when he began his tenancy on the home and business that it had been a target many times before.
“When the police came [after the burglary] they said, and I quote, ‘this the unsafest dairy in all of Auckland’,” Khan said.
When Khan took over the shop, he said police also informed him he was on the shortlist for the Retail Crime Prevention Programme and the Fog Cannon Subsidy Scheme, and his dairy was fitted with alarms and fog cannons.
However, in both burglaries the fog cannons failed to deter the robbers, taking a long time to activate while they pocketed their stolen goods.
Khan has now lost more than $50,000 worth of stock, which he has decided to donate to the same charities that helped him when he and his family came to the country.
He said he would not even attempt to sell the business because “who will buy the most unsafe dairy in Auckland?”
Khan is pleading with the landlord to cancel his lease on the building and refund his bond, which he believes he deserves due to the landlord not informing him of the previous break-ins.
A police spokesperson confirmed they were continuing to investigate two burglaries at the dairy.
“A scene examination has been completed for each incident and staff are working to determine the identities of those involved,” the spokesperson said.
Anyone who might have information on the burglaries is being asked to contact police via 105 and quote file number 231030/0069 (Sunday, October 29 burglary) or 231101/7416 (Tuesday, October 31 burglary).
