An Auckland dairy owner is devastated after her shop was ram-raided on Monday, leaving a trail of destruction.
A police spokesperson said a group of people ram-raided Sandra Dairy on Marua Road in Ellerslie at 3:50am and stole several items before fleeing in a second vehicle.
Footage from the scene shows a trail of destruction, with the entrance of the dairy destroyed.
Owner Devi Patel told Newshub she heard a car come through the entrance of the store.
"The person came sort of halfway in the shop and then my husband yelled and he took off again," she said.
"I wouldn't let my husband come into the shop in case they had weapons."
Patel said the ram raid has left her nervous, stressed and struggling to sleep.
"When this happened I couldn't sleep because you really can't sleep and you just keep on thinking what would've happened. There is so much violence around now and there's nothing you can really do about it," she said.
Patel said young kids are becoming more and more confident and she even experienced an 11-year-old confront her.
"Even young kids, as young as 11 came into the shop one day and he stood by the counter and he said to me, 'What are you staring at'?
"He said, 'do you think I'm going to steal something'? And I just looked at him. So he took a cookie, chips, bread and Coke and just ran off," Patel said.
The thieves left Patel's shop with an "incredible" amount of damage and she questions "what they are working for".
"We work all our lives so we can retire, but then when this happens, you think we'll just close up and go," she said.
Patel said thieves don't understand how hard dairy workers work, the lack of social lives they have and also the consistent worry their shop might be targeted.
Patel had nothing but praise for the police, but joined a growing amount of people calling for the Government to tackle young offenders.
Police said anyone with information is asked to contact Police on 105 or via www.police.govt.nz/use-105 ‘Update My Report’ quoting file number 221219/1810.
Police were also called to an attempted burglary at the Noel Leeming store at St Lukes shortly before 2am.
A police spokesperson said a fog cannon was activated and those involved left the scene without taking anything.
The spokesperson said enquiries into the attempted burglary are ongoing and ask anyone with information to contact Police via 105, quoting job number P052986977.
A third burglary was reported at a school on Great South Rd in Drury, South Auckland and enquiries are ongoing, police said.
Hamilton night of crime
Hamilton also saw a night of crime, which has seen police cordon off a house in Waikato after a spree of burglaries overnight including a ram raid.
Photos from the scene show armed police outside a home in Bader Street, Hamilton.
Earlier police were called to a report of a ram-raid-style burglary at a commercial building in Bryant Road, St Andrews at 1:53am. Shortly afterwards they were called to a burglary in Duke Street in Cambridge at 3:49am followed by another at a commercial building on Sloane Street in Te Awamutu 4:31am.
A police spokesperson said officers are following lines of enquiry to locate the offenders and to determine whether the incidents are linked.
It comes after a Hamilton dairy owner had two of his fingers cut off during a violent robbery on Saturday.
Meanwhile, down in the South Island, Ashburton was also targeted by ram raiders.
A commercial premise on Burnett Street was ram-raided at 3:50am.
A spokesperson said an unknown number of offenders entered the premises and fled after triggering the fog cannons.
Police said the offenders haven't been located but they're following lines of enquiry to locate them.
Anyone with information about any of the burglaries and ram raids overnight can provide information anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
