Police investigating a burglary at the Shosha vape store at the Redwood Centre in Rotorua. Video / Andrew Warner
Three youths have been arrested after a burglary at a Rotorua vape store this morning, police say, with a fourth being sought.
A police spokesman said police responded to reports of a burglary at a store on Tarawera Rd in Lynmore about 6.30am.
Police tape surrounded the Sosha Redwoods store at the Redwood Centre and police staff were investigating the scene.
Police alleged in a statement that four offenders arrived in two vehicles, broke the front window with a tool and left in one of the vehicles, abandoning the other at the scene.
Police said the vehicle the group left in was tracked to a Rotorua street.
Constable Zade Rimmer of the Rotorua Tactical Crime Unit said three of the four youths allegedly involved were found walking nearby.
The fourth had been identified and police were looking for them.
Police investigating a burglary at the Shosha vape store at the Redwood Centre in Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner
A manager at the Shosha Redwoods vape store told the Rotorua Daily Post she was woken about 6.10am after the store security alarm went off and called the company owner and the police.
The woman, who spoke on the condition she was not named, said when she arrived at the premises the police were already there and found the two glass front doors had been smashed, and the security shutters had been lifted to gain entry.
The manager said CCTV footage showed four males arrived in two cars and parked one on the footpath and the other on the road.
She alleged that after the disguised group “hammered their way into the store, and smashed a couple of shelves, they fled in one car and left the other behind”.
She alleged the four left with a “significant” amount of vape products in what appeared to be a silver or grey four-door car.
The car left behind had since been towed from the scene, the manager said.
She said before the store could be opened today she and the rest of the staff had done a major cleanup as broken glass was spread everywhere.
”It’s shocking and upsetting as this type of crime seems to be becoming far more commonplace and this is the second burglary at the store this year. We had a similar burglary in February.
”It’s tiring having to get up in the dark and come down to the store to clean up other people’s mess.”
The manager said she believed there needed to be more security in the town, especially in this “little area of the Rotorua”.
