Teen seriously injured in mall plunge

A witness said they heard a crunching sound when the boy hit the ground. File photo / Greg Bowker

A 14-year-old boy was seriously injured in a 20m plunge as he fled shop security staff - all for a pair of $25 shoes.

After being accused of trying to steal the white skate shoes from The Warehouse on level three of Auckland's Westfield Downtown Mall this week, the boy ran from the store.

He leapt over a balustrade into the mall's atrium, falling two storeys to the tiled floor below.

Police Senior Sergeant Marty Brown said the boy was being "spoken to" by Warehouse store security, when he fled.

"He became reluctant and ran off," Brown said. "He realised he was running towards the up-going escalator, so he vaulted the railing and has fallen about 20 metres."

Ian Morrice, chief executive of The Warehouse, said the boy had been stopped by security staff.

"He tried on a pair of shoes then tried to leave wearing that pair of shoes," Morrice said.

"A security guard and the duty manager led him towards the back offices to deal with the incident and the boy ran off.

"I would stress no one chased him and the reason he jumped was because he ran towards the entrance, which is an up escalator," The Warehouse chief executive said.

"Instead of trying to run down that he decided to jump off the balcony."

Rodney Wayne hair salon receptionist Mahima Shukla, who is training to be a nurse, said she heard a crunching sound when the boy hit the ground.

"He came flying down from the top floor and hit the floor hard, I heard this horrible crunching sound," Shukla said.

"He was confused, not unconscious, but he had lots of broken bones. He was sobbing and really scared. He was in a lot of pain."

Shukla said she told him not to move because he could do more damage. "I didn't want to touch him, it's against first aid [rules] to move someone who has had a fall."

Willy Wonka shop assistant Nilesh Shah was serving a customer when he saw the boy fall.

"It was busy, very busy. He's lucky he didn't fall on anyone else," Shah said.

Auckland District Health Board spokesman Matthew Rogers said the teenager was in Starship Hospital in a stable condition.

The boy's father said he would not to speak to the Herald on Sunday unless he was paid.

The Warehouse security and staff have been offered counselling. "With any traumatic incident like this there is support," Morrice said. "They have employee assistance available to them and that would be a judgment of the manager and individual concerned."

Senior Sergeant Brown said police had not yet spoken with the boy, who had suffered serious leg and back injuries.