Auckland mall ram-raiders have shared their crime online. Video / TikTok / Hayden Woodward
New footage of a shocking ram-raid in east Auckland has been posted online, this time filmed by one of those involved.
The Ormiston shopping centre robbery was one of the most brazen thefts yet in a youth crime wave that's sweeping the city.
Three stolen cars were used to ram-raid the entrance to the Ormiston shopping centre and smash into several shops in the early hours of Tuesday.
Shocking security footage has shown cars hooning through the mall, endangering the lives of cleaners and a security guard who had to jump out of the way. More than a dozen young people then sprint after the cars.
Postie and Noel Leeming stores were both targeted, with clothes and electronic goods stolen and shop fronts badly damaged.
Now shaky footage posted to Tiktok shows a different angle - one of the youngsters following their peers into Noel Leeming through the mangled security gates.
In the background sit two cars, one with headlights gleaming, as the young people head into the darkened store.
Many of those commenting on the TikTok video appear to be admiring the youngsters' exploits but others warn it could be used to trace the offenders.
Police warned yesterday that lives are being put in danger by the worrying trend which has exploded over the past four weeks and largely involves young people.
Shop owners are fearful for their livelihoods with some hiring private security and at least one sleeping in her shop.
Counties Manukau Detective Inspector Karen Bright called it a "tragedy waiting to happen" with fears a carload of children could be killed.
And she warned social media was fuelling these incidents as youngsters posted their exploits to TikTok to the adulation of their peers.
Speaking on Newstalk ZB this morning, Bright said ram raids weren't new but there was currently a spike in offending.
Police were doing their part - patrolling at night, stopping cars and dealing with the young people they found, while detectives were identifying those responsible, she told Mike Hosking. But they needed help from others to address the problem.
The public could help by informing police if they became aware of stolen property being sold.
Over 50 per cent of the offenders they had dealt with in Counties Manukau since October were aged 10-14, she said. Over 90 per cent were under 17.
And there was a wider issue of why young people were out in stolen cars in the middle of the night.
"We're asking people to talk to their young people about these social media videos and try to ensure they understand the harm that goes along with them, the risk taking."
Police are investigating after multiple stores were rammed during an overnight ramming spree in the Ormiston Town Centre Shopping Mall. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Hosking suggested those children's parents were unlikely to pass that message along, and Bright appeared to agree.
"These young people in some cases are growing up in very difficult circumstances... There's a reason they don't want to be at home in the middle of the night. in some of these cases."
Bright pushed back on Hosking's suggestion that "young punks" should be "locked up and taught a lesson" as a deterrent to others.
"Some of these young people are repeat offenders, but some of them aren't and we need to intervene with them at the age they are," Bright said. "The justice sector will deal with some of them but some of them are 11. There has to be a very different pathway for 11-year-olds."
Asked why those children needed a different pathway, Bright said "we work within the laws we have".
"We understand the harm that's happening to our retailers...We see it happening to our local dairies so it's frustrating for us. We are doing everything we can - what we're saying is it's a wider issue."
