The Rotoma GAS service station was burgled again. Video / Supplied
Burglars have raided a Rotoma service station for a third time - stealing more than $10,000 worth of cigarettes and other goods.
The break-in early on Wednesday has left the owner distressed. "It's emotional and psychological - everybody has a breaking point," he said.
It also comes as worried businessowners plan to gather next week with community leaders to form an ''action plan'' to address ram-raids and other burglaries in the region.
Rotorua District councillor Raj Kumar, who organised the meeting, says there is "a lot of trauma" among local store owners who are worried someone will get hurt.
The Rotoma GAS service station was ram-raided twice last year before this latest raid.
The owner, who only wanted to be known as P Gill, told the Rotorua Daily Post he was woken by police about 5.30am yesterday morning telling him his store had been broken into.
Burglars broke the lock on one of the front roller doors and entered the premises.
The damaged cigarette cabinet after the service station was burgled on Wednesday morning. Photo / Supplied
Thousands of dollars worth of goods were stolen including cigarettes, vapes, sunglasses and lighters. He estimated that $10,000 worth of cigarettes were taken.
The point of sale (POS) system and cigarette cabinet were also smashed, both of which would be expensive to replace, he said.
Damage also meant the service station could not open yesterday.
Police said they received a report of a burglary at a shop on SH30, near Oxford Rd about 4.30am and were making initial inquiries into the incident. As of 4.50pm yesterday there had been no arrests.
Gill said it was "annoying" that his business had been targeted for the third time and felt this incident would stop him from sleeping.
A television in his bedroom screened security camera footage from outside the service station - and his two other businesses in Te Teko.
The store owner says the smashed POS system will be expensive to replace. Photo / Supplied
"It's not very good for mental health. I won't be able to sleep tonight - I will be looking into the camera."
The perpetrators had "no fear" and it would be easy for them to "come back and do it again".
"The thing is you can't even sleep at night because you don't know if they are going to do it at another shop."
A burglar inside the Rotoma GAS service station. Photo / Supplied
A Rotorua liquor store was the target of two ram raids last month, with planter boxes filled with concrete since put outside the store in a bid to prevent another incident.
The first incident caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the premises.
The store manager said he understood bollards would eventually be installed but had left it up to the owner.
Kumar has organised a community meeting with police, store owners, Rotorua-based list MP Tāmati Coffey and council staff to explore solutions to address the growing number of ram-raids and burglaries.
He said an "action plan" was needed to ensure the problem did not reach levels like in Hamilton and Auckland.
"Rotorua needs to get proactive. While this is only maybe about liquor stores and dairy owners at the moment, the bigger concern is it could be anyone."
"We can't end up in a town with so many ram-raids that half the town looks like it's been boarded up."
Rotorua District councillor Raj Kumar. Photo / Andrew Warner
Kumar, who also owns the Springfield Superette & Lotto store, said many retailers were worried "someone is going to get hurt".
"There is a lot of trauma around it," he said.
"The damage is more than what they are taking. It's a very bad experience for a lot of store owners, psychologically there could be a lot of damage as well."
He also believed store owners needed "more guidance" around how they could prevent this type of crime and what to do if they were targeted.
Addressing the problem would need a joint approach involving the council, government and community members, he said.
Coffey confirmed he would attend the meeting at the Arawa Bowling Club on Tuesday, August 16. It will run from 1pm until 3pm.
The Rotorua Daily Post last week reported the Bay of Plenty had the second-highest number of ram raids in New Zealand in the year to October. The 19 per cent share was second only to Waikato's 27 per cent.
Nationally, rates more than doubled and most offenders – 88 per cent – were aged under 20.
In the regions where offending rates were highest, ram-raids were being done for "fun and notoriety," police say.
A wider police data set covering the five years shows that while the problem was not new, it had picked up recently. In the year to June, there were 436 ram raids nationwide, more than double the 191 of the year before and five times the 84 in the year to June 2018.
Youth involvement was also up, with 14- to 17-year-olds responsible for just under 60 per cent in 2018 rising to just over 70 per cent this year.
The issues have spanned the region. The owner of an Eastern Bay jewellery store ram raided last month said the crime was "devastating".
"You feel like a bit of a sitting duck - we've got bollards ... being manufactured at the moment. As soon as we get the new frontage in, we're going to install the bollards and hopefully, that will be a bit more of a deterrent in the future," she said at the time.
