Stewart Dawsons jewellery store at St Luke's Mall was targeted by up to eight masked robbers.
Video / Supplied
Video footage has captured the moment robbers were chased out of the Westfield St Lukes carpark by shoppers after raiding a jewellery store.
Up to eight people wearing masks and carrying batons targeted Stewart Dawson's late yesterday afternoon, smashing glass cabinets and grabbing jewellery before fleeing to the car park.
In the video on social media, around 10 people are seen chasing the masked men as they make their getaway.
One person is also seen jumping onto the boot lid of the car.
A retail worker at Westfield St Lukes said they and others are very nervous and anxious today after the brazen daylight robbery at the mall.
The retailer said mall management had been asking retailers how they were doing after the robbery.
"Fortunately, I wasn't here last night. I finished work earlier than that but my colleague rang me and said it was awful," they said.
Five police officers stand outside the store, talking to clearly shaken witnesses of the attack, some are in need of comfort by the officers. Photo / Rachel Maher
"My husband certainly said to me this morning 'watch yourself down there'."
They said they had seen police around the mall this morning, but hadn't particularly noticed an increase in security.
They said they were disgusted with the number of ram raids and burglaries occurring.
"The whole thing is just a disgrace, the Government, what's going on, people getting away with it, kids wandering around like lunatics and nothing happening to them.
"It's sad, it's just really sad in our country."
Armed police and emergency services responded in significant numbers after the robbery.
Frightened shoppers ran for cover and others were threatened by the men, whose faces were all covered, said witnesses.
The offenders entered the jewellery store on the upper level of the mall about 5pm, smashing cabinets with batons and snatching expensive jewellery before fleeing.
A group entered the Stewart Dawson's jewellery store inside Auckand's Westfield St Lukes on Tuesday, smashed cabinets and took items before fleeing. Police are investigating. Photo / Supplied
Mt Albert Business Association member Catherine Goodwin told RNZ businesses were losing faith in the justice system's ability to protect them.
"I feel that this is a sign that the justice system has lost control, youth crime is escalating, cross-agency social services are not operating effectively."
Goodwin said she was unconvinced by recently released Stats NZ figures that showed the number of youth appearing in court had declined since 2021.
"I would expect it's because people aren't being taken through the process to appear in court, it doesn't appear to us there are the arrests that would be expected and in fact the system isn't taking people through the full youth crime process.
"I wouldn't suggest that is in any way a reduction in youth crime occurring, it's the fact that the system isn't holding people accountable."
She said yesterday's robbery was particularly shocking as it happened during usual business hours.
A worker at the nearby Max fashion store said at the time she heard glass shattering and a woman screaming, and rushed outside to see what was happening.
She said she saw about eight men with covered faces smashing everything and anything with massive batons.
The worker said she quickly rolled down the shutters on the Max store, rushed customers into the back room, and locked the door.
She said she assumed the batons were guns at first.
A Herald reporter at the scene said police officers were outside the jewellery store after the robbery, talking to clearly shaken witnesses, some of whom were in need of comfort.
Nearby workers at Muffin Break had also fled after hearing glass shattering and screaming from inside the jewellery store.
They believed this was the third time the shop had been targeted.
A worker from the Coffee Club store said she saw a couple of people run away, wearing all black with either hats or hoods.
Another nearby worker said she thought the men had guns because of the consistency of the smashing sound.
