Jewellery stores at Auckland mall targeted by thieves over weekend

Multimedia Journalist - NZ Herald·NZ Herald·

5 Dec, 2021 11:29 PM2 mins to read

Thieves targeted Westfield St Lukes Mall in Auckland over the weekend. Photo / File / Jason Oxenham

Jewellery stores at a busy Auckland mall have been the target of two robberies at the weekend, with one happening amidst the Christmas shopping chaos in a brazen daytime raid.

Police are investigating after a person smashed a glass cabinet at Michael Hill Jewellers in Westfield St Lukes Shopping Centre and fled the store with jewellery on Saturday afternoon.

The alleged thief walked into the store and spoke with staff just after 1.30pm, before running off with the jewellery.

"CCTV footage has been obtained and our inquiries into locating the offender remain ongoing," police said.

"If anyone has information to assist our inquiries, they can contact Police on 105 quoting the file number 211205/9571."

Meanwhile at around 3am on Monday morning, a person smashed a glass window at Stewart Dawsons Jeweller, also situated at the mall.

Luckily the person failed to enter the store and no items were stolen, staff told the Herald.

The two weekend break-ins are the latest in a spate of smash and grab robberies in jewellery stores across Auckland.

The theft on Saturday is the tenth at a Michael Hill Jeweller store in the past 12 months.

A security guard surveys the damage to the front of the Michael Hill store in Whakatane in July. Photo / Supplied

The chain's Whakatāne branch was ram-raided in July when two people smashed their way into the store's glass cabinets using a tomahawk before making off with thousands of dollars worth of jewellery.

That came a week after a Michael Hill store on King St in Pukekohe was burgled by a group of people.

The Michael Hill store in West City Mall, Henderson, was also broken into in July with two men taking "a large amount" of jewellery and a number of other items - including bags and personal belongings.

The company's stores in Albany Mall and the NorthWest Shopping Centre in Massey have also been targeted in the past year.

Officers received a report of a burglary at two commercial premises in Dress Mart Onehunga in the early house of August 1 - one being a Michael Hill store.