Two Levin dairies on same street targeted in less than a week, offenders yet to be found

Divya Patel feared her brother’s dairy might be next after her family friend’s dairy was targeted in an attempted ramraid just down the road while they slept in the building.

Those fears were realised a few days later when she received a call to say her brother’s store on Oxford St, Levin, had been ramraided.

Oxford Dairy was the second dairy on the street to be targeted in less than a week.

Earlier LA 2000 convenience store was burgled while a member of staff, Kelly Anne Mckay slept in the building with her 14-year-old daughter.

READ MORE:
* The future of the corner dairy: Owners will need to ‘diversify’ business in order to survive without tobacco
* Smokefree 2025 plan is ‘100 per cent theory’ and will destroy dairies, owners’ group says
* Four arrested following a spate of robberies in Manawatū

A police spokesperson said it received a report of the burglary about 4.40am on Wednesday.

Mckay said an alarm woke her up, as a group of youths attempted to ramraid the shopfront. However, once they realised there were concrete pillars and could not break in, they smashed the windows.

Mckay said she pushed the panic button when she realised people were in the store.

Four people broke into the store and took some items and left “a lot of mess”, she said. “I’ve never been so scared before in my life.”

Her daughter was traumatised by the incident. “It’s going to take her a long time to get over it.”

Patel’s brother was on holiday in Rotorua when she was told four days later that his dairy had been ramraided.

A police spokesperson said an allegedly stolen car was used to break into the store about 1.30am on Sunday.

The vehicle was spiked a short time later but they continued to drive and broke through the fences at the Levin Showgrounds, police said. “The occupants abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene.”

Inquiries were ongoing to locate the offenders. .

Comparing CCTV footage with Mckay, Patel said the group looked like they might be the same people.

Four people jumped out of two cars after breaking through the shopfront, taking the till and smoking products including vapes, tobacco and lighters, Patel said.

“Glass was all over the floor … Everything is so messed up.”

The people were in and out of the store within two minutes, similar to the incident at LA 2000, she said.

“They were so quick … They knew exactly what to do.”

Fixing the damage, plus the products stolen and the time needed to close the store as a result of the ramraid would cost thousands of dollars, she said.

The incident had left her feeling angry and scared and the small community of dairy owners in Levin were fearful of being the next target.

“No one can sleep peacefully at night … No dairy owner, they are not safe at all.”