“They went for what I think they thought was a really expensive spirits,” King told Focus. “So the whiskey, the tequila, they took all the rose, they were very particular about it.
“They also took some AF products... oh and a hat!” she added laughing.
Police confirmed they responded to reports of the incident around 1.25 am on Tuesday morning before finding the stolen car abandoned on Hobson St.
Almost all the products were left in the vehicle - clearly not the sort of drinks the thieves were after.
“I think they had no idea,” King said.
“I could have imagined the reaction in the car afterwards finding out that all these products didn’t actually have alcohol in them and then abandoning them all.”
Curious AF founder Lisa King was relieved to have most of the stolen drinks returned after the thieves left them in the car. Photo / Jed Bradley
Police have since arrested a 34-year-old man who was due to appear in Auckland District Court today while further inquiries are ongoing.
Seeing the funny side, the AF team posted the CCTV footage to Instagram and TikTok with the video getting more than 20,000 views.
The video shows three men backing a car into the two front glass doors of the bottle shop before grabbing their haul.
Many users commented they were just as surprised the doors didn’t shatter - although King said they still need to be replaced after sustaining some minor damage.
She’s also considering installing a bollard out the front.
“I thought the whole front would just be all broken,” King said. “I think we just felt really lucky actually in terms of ram raids, the damage could have been so much worse.”
As for the alcohol-free industry, things couldn’t be going any better with Curious AF looking to launch into another market later this year.
“It’s so nice to see this category now becoming so normal,” King said. “Even for the ram-raiders... alcohol-free has become so mainstream that even thieves want a piece of it.”
