A liquor store staff member takes action against alleged robbers. Photo / Supplied
A liquor store staff member takes action against alleged robbers. Photo / Supplied
Liquor store staff armed with a hockey stick turned the tables on four would-be robbers who allegedly burst in wielding a metal tool, punched a man and tried to steal booze and money.
A bottle of alcohol was also thrown in the scuffle at Kawaha Point Dairy and Liquor Centre in Rotorua on Sunday night.
The offenders were forced to drop their boxes and flee, but a regular customer outside the store caught one of them and held him until police arrived.
Police hunting the other three alleged offenders are looking for people with fresh injuries.
Store owner Harshminder Singh, who was not working at the time of the incident, said the alleged offenders ran into the store about 7.05pm. He claimed one smashed a weapon across the top of a computer screen on the counter. He said the weapon was a metal tool used to change a tyre.
Kawaha Point Dairy and Liquor Centre store owner Harshminder Singh. Photo / Andrew Warner
At the time, a former employee who is a friend of the two staff members on duty was sitting behind the counter waiting for them to finish work.
Singh claimed one of the four went behind the counter, "punched" the man in the head and tried to steal money from the till.
Meanwhile, the other three allegedly grabbed boxes of alcohol and tried to make their way out of the store.
A staff member quickly rushed in, armed with a hockey stick. He smashed one of the offenders with the stick and there was a scuffle in the store, resulting in an alcohol stand tipping over and smashing.
The former employee threw a full bottle of alcohol at the alleged robbers as they fled, having dropped the boxes.
Singh said he was grateful for the actions of the regular customer, whom he did not know by name, who yanked the keys out of the getaway car and grabbed one of the offenders, holding him securely by the wrists until police arrived.
A worker from the dairy next door also came to help.
Neither of the staff members nor the ex-worker was injured in the melee.
Singh said he had owned the store since 2015. It is a dual business including a liquor store and dairy in separate stores side by side.
Kawaha Point Dairy after it was ram-raided in February. Photo / Ben Fraser
He said it had been great for the first six years but this year they had already been hit twice - Sunday's incident and a ram-raid in February where the front of the store was smashed and items stolen.
Singh said someone would run into the store and run out again with a stolen box of alcohol every two to three weeks now.
He said while he and his team trusted their regular customers, they always felt nervous about people they didn't know.
"It makes you nervous and maybe your staff don't want to work here ... It used to be a good business when I started in 2015 but now, day by day, it is getting worse."
Detective Sergeant Tony Colby said police were still in the early stages of their inquiries and were still looking for the three other offenders.
Colby said it was possible some of the other offenders received injuries, including to their faces, during the robbery and he asked for people who knew of anyone with fresh injuries to contact police.
Anyone with information can contact police on the 105 phone service or online at www.police.govt.nz/use-105.
