Watch: Shocking footage shows latest ram raid on fine wine retailer 'Something has to change'

News
Crime

Author: NZ Herald,
Publish Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2022, 1:52PM

A family-owned Auckland business hard hit by a spate of ram raids has shared shocking footage of the latest attack on its oldest store.

Glengarry Wines has endured 42 raids on its stores across Auckland, the majority in the past 18 months.

Security footage from its Jervois Rd store in Herne Bay shows the 23 seconds it took to for thieves to pillage and destroy stock.

In a post sharing the video online, Glengarry Wines said, “This is an unsustainable situation that is devastating so many businesses.

“New Zealand cannot endure it. Something has to change. Words won’t fix it.”

The footage shows a car backing into the shop front, shattering glass and damaging the doors.

Thieves were captured on CCTV during a ram raid at a Glengarry wine shop on Jervois Rd, Herne Bay last Wednesday. Photo / Supplied

Two thieves then pry the door open by hand, hiding their faces from the camera as they run into the store.

A third man waiting in a car outside joins them as the men haul bottles of wine into the boot of the car.

A different camera angle looking further into the shop shows a man attempting to grab a number of wine bottles in his arms.

He drops about nine bottles on the ground, as the thieves leave a trail of destruction in their wake.

The latest ram raid targeting the business happened about 2.30am last Wednesday, also at the Jervois Rd store.

Police were called to a ram raid incident at the Glengarry Wines store on Jervois Rd, central Auckland, early last Wednesday morning. Photo / NZME

One raid in September was a more sophisticated operation than other raids, involving a group of older men targeting rare and valuable vintages in the Jervois Rd store’s cellar.

It is a crime the store’s management and a wine expert believe had the hallmarks of a targeted heist-to-order.

Most burglaries include the typical ram raids committed by young offenders who are generally caught, such as the alleged ram raid of its Takapuna store in Hurstmere Rd in September.

Glengarry Wines general manager Liz Wheadon said the cost of each raid was “spiralling into the tens of thousands”.

While the upscale wine chain has insurance, the dozens of raids have still cost them a little over $256,000 in lost and damaged stock.

Glengarry general manager Liz Wheadon. Photo / Dean Purcell

Police have yet to make an arrest in relation to either the September burglary, where a window was jemmied open after the offenders cased the premises, or last Wednesday’s ram raid.

Wheadon said the burglaries were taking their toll on staff.

“They deserve to feel safe at work.

“We’re a family-owned business that employs a lot of people.

“There are families that rely on the business.”

The chain has adopted various prevention measures, including bollards, barrels filled with sand and grates on windows.

“We’ve got everything that everyone’s asked us to do,” Wheadon said.

Wheadon said Glengarry was not eligible for the police’s $6 million Small Retailer Crime Prevention Fund because it was not deemed a small business.

“While this out-of-control social situation is no easy fix, we do pay our taxes, and yet because we have more than one store, we are ineligible for any government assistance,” the retailer said in a post on Facebook.

A torch-wielding burglar surveys the rare vintages before making his selection. Photo / Supplied

She did not call for harsher penalties against the mostly very young people involved in ram raids.

However, she believes something needs to change.

In August, at the launch of the prevention fund, Acting Assistant Police Commissioner David Lynch said there have been more than 1000 ram raids and 768 people arrested for the offending since 2017.

Around the same time, Police Minister Chris Hipkins said of the 129 ram raids from May to August this year that nearly all were committed by people under 18.

Of the 129 raids, 84 were in Auckland.