A Hamilton shop owner is out of pocket by nearly $30,000 and no longer feels safe running his store after it was targeted in a brazen ram raid early this morning.
The owner, Tim Li, of Vape2Go on Victoria St in the city centre said three masked offenders smashed their way into the store around 1.40am.
They drove a blue Mazda Demio through the front of the store causing such extensive damage that Li was unsure about when he would be able to reopen his store again.
"That will be a major cost, I have insurance and the landlord has insurance as well, but the damage is to the innocent people," he said.
A police spokesperson said they are investigating the incident and asked anyone with information to contact police on 105, quoting the reference number 220801/2007.
While he had not finished counting yet, Li believed that in just five minutes the offenders were able to get away with between $20,000 and $30,000 worth of stock.
He said they had also taken a hammer to a glass cabinet.
Asked if he feels safe as a business owner in Hamilton's CBD, Li said no.
"Recently there have been a lot of robberies happening around the city centre and it's not safe at all," he said.
He said he had even chosen the location of his shop thinking that being on the main street of the city would be safer than other areas.
The store was closed today while Li waited for the front of the store to be sealed up with board.
As to when the frontage would be completely fixed, Li said he couldn't say and pointed out that a neighbouring business's frontage took two months to complete after a traffic incident.
Is this the role that every other NZ town and city should consider?