Rotorua ram raids: Another Ngongotaha Rd business targeted

Another shop was ram raided in Rotorua early this morning and a neighbouring business owner who has also been targeted in the past says the situation is “out of control”.

Police confirmed they were called to Ngongotaha Rd about 4.50am following a report of a burglary where a vehicle was used to gain entry.

Police said in a media statement inquiries were ongoing and they could not offer any more comment today.

“It’s the weekend when most senior staff who we typically ask to comment on the bigger picture are not at work.”

The business owner affected declined to comment.

However, another business owner located two doors down watched it all unfold on his CCTV footage.

He also asked not to be named as “everybody is too scared and they have had enough”.

The footage shows two cars pulling up while one rams the front of the store. Then two individuals allegedly appear to run inside the shop and then out again.

The brazen acts were “getting out of control”, he said.

“They are doing robberies in the daylight and at night time. Last week there were three ram raids. "

His business had been targeted before and the burglaries and ram raids were creating fear.

Last Saturday stolen vehicles, smashed glass, burgled businesses and a car “engulfed in flames” were the scenes after three Rotorua shops were ram raided in less than an hour.

Police confirmed stolen vehicles were used to gain entry to the Challenge petrol station on Malfroy Rd, Springfield Superette and Lotto on Otonga Rd and Rosedale Superette on Te Ngae Rd early last Saturday morning.

Springfield Superette and Lotto owner Raj Kumar told the Rotorua Daily Post after those events the stolen vehicle used to ram raid his superette had a “baby seat in the back”.

He said seeing the car seat in the car used to shatter his shop doors prompted him to speak out about how businesses were not the only victims in ram raids.

Kumar said he got the call about a crime in progress at his store at 5.30am on Saturday.

At the store, a Nissan Tiida had been rammed through the superette’s main door, smashing it.

“There was a baby seat in the back. There are more consequences for families. Those people whose cars are stolen are victims too.”

The former Rotorua Lakes councillor, who has spoken out before about impacts of retail crime, said it was the first time his store had been ram raided.