Police ‘feel the pain’ of community after night of ramraids brings anguish to shopkeepers

Police are working “with urgency” to track down those responsible for a series of ramraids and burglaries in the early hours of Monday.

Between 2.45am and 6.10am police responded to seven commercial burglaries across Christchurch, three of which were ramraids. They included Cutts Mini Mart, Parnwell Superette and Lyttelton Fresh Choice.

The shops are the latest targets of a persistent retail crime problem in Canterbury.

Eighteen shops were ramraided in May, the highest monthly total for the region since records began.

Many of the people behind the crimes are recidivist offenders, with a specialist police retail investigation unit having arrested 55 people and charged them with 476 offences since November 2021 – an average of more than eight for each person.

“We live in this community, and we feel the pain of the retailers who are being subjected to this kind of thoughtless action by a handful of offenders who think this kind of behaviour is acceptable,” Christchurch metro area commander Superintendent Lane Todd said on Monday.

He said the retail crime prevention programme has provided 24 Canterbury stores with security measures – the likes of fog canons and bollards – and another 14 have had quotes approved.

One dairy owner says he prays to God every night that his store won’t get ramraided, but on Monday morning his fears were realised after his store was one of the seven commercial burglaries in Christchurch overnight.

Cutts Mini Mart owner Kinjan Shah said with the increased in ramraids in the city in the past two months, he and his wife worried about when they would be targeted.

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“Every morning is good when I get to the store and know it hasn’t been burgled,” he said.

However, the Russley retailer’s luck ran out after two cars were involved in an attempted ramraid on his premises just after 6am on Monday.

Shah was in his home at the back of the dairy when he heard a loud bang as a car tried to smash its way through the roller door at the front.

The offenders had gonewithin a minute, but Shah was able to piece together their movements prior to the raid via security camera footage.

He said one car emerged from a park across the road, and then offenders stole a car 500m away from the shop.

A boy who he estimated was between 12 and 15 years old stood out the front of the shop with an empty grocery bag, while another offender tried to ramraid the building.

The boy looked scared, according to Shah.

“It didn’t look well planned,” he said.

Although nothing was taken, Shah still has to replace the roller door, the shop window and the door frame. He’s now considering putting in bollards.

“The ramraids are now a normal thing here.”

The burglaries were reported at:

• 2.45am in Centaurus Rd, Huntsbury
• 3am in Sparks Rd, Halswell
• 3.15am in Wigram Rd, Wigram
• 4am in Hopkins St, Woolston
• 4.35am at Fresh Choice in London St, Lyttelton
• 5.15am at Parnwell Superette Store in Bassett St, Burwood
• 6.10am at Cutts Mini Mart in Cutts Rd, Russley

Canterbury police were working to determine if the incidents were linked.

Stuff also understands another attempted ramraid took place at a commercial premise in Parklands not long before 5am.

Fresh Choice Lyttelton owner Rob De Thier said four thieves ramraided his store with a silver Toyota Aqua, but only managed to make off with three packets of vapes after they failed to kick in a cabinet where cigarettes were held.

De Thier said the heavily disguised offenders then smashed up wine bottles and threw items around the store in frustration.

It was the second time the Fresh Choice had been burgled, after offenders smashed a window last December to gain entry.

De Thier said he would now look at installing bollards.

Parnwell Superette store was ramraided for the second time in six months.

The dairy’s manager, who did not want to be named, said four offenders had used two cars to enter the premises, before they stole 30 packets of tobacco.

He said the offenders were unable to be identified from security footage.

A thousand dollars worth of vaping products was stolen from the store in January.

At the time the manager said he felt he had been stabbed in the back, because he believed the offenders were regular customers.

He is now considering installing bollards to prevent further ramraids.