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A bumbling attempt at a ram raid in Wellington ended with the offenders having to escape out of the windows of their car, after getting the vehicle wedged inside the dairy they were targeting.
The ram raiders left empty-handed, but left a big clean-up job for the owner of the Coromandel Corner Store in Newtown.
Owner Nilesh, who did not want his surname used, said the culprits drove the car into the shop’s door at 4.20am.
He said the vehicle became stuck and the culprits weren’t able to open the doors, escaping from the car’s windows and fleeing the scene without stealing anything from the dairy.
The car was left wedged in the dairy after the ram raid.
The front door of the dairy has been completely removed this morning, with its buckled framing still attached to the shopfront.
Nilesh said it “was a big mess” with the counter and fridge having been shunted across the shop and broken glass everywhere, which took two hours to clean up.
He has owned the shop for 14 years and said shoplifting has become a big issue at the store, with multiple recent instances of young people taking chips and lollies.
Nilesh wanted the police to do more to stop the offending.
Neighbour Leon O’Sullivan said he woke to the sound of a loud bang and thought someone might have crashed into his sports car. “I would have been very sad,” he said.
“[It was] 4.20 in the morning, which is an apt time for people doing silly things.”
O’Sullivan looked out the window and spotted the car parked in the front of the shop with the engine still running.
The offenders fled while he was grabbing his phone. O’Sullivan called police, who arrived a short time later.
Police were investigating at the Coromandel Corner Store in Newtown, Wellington after an early morning ram raid. Photo / Ethan Manera
He said it was “incredibly impressive driving” for the offenders to navigate between poles to reach the front of the store, “but the actual execution of the crime was fairly poor, cause the car got stuck and was left in gear. The wheels would have been spinning if they could have got any traction. It was a mess.”
Police were investigating at the scene this morning.
“Those involved used a vehicle to gain entry to the store and fled on foot before police arrived. Enquiries are ongoing to determine who was involved and locate them,” a spokesperson said.
Anyone with information about this incident can report it to police through 105 referencing file number 240711/0924.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
