The owner of a Raglan clothing store that was ram raided says he's "disappointed" by the crime, especially on Waitangi Day.
Three men broke into Fallenfront, a streetwear shop on Bow St, in the early hours of Tuesday morning. CCTV footage shows a white car, thought to be a Honda or Nissan sedan, reversing into the shopfront before two men in grey hoodies run inside.
They stole an estimated $3000 to $5000 worth of clothing in less than three minutes before fleeing the scene in the same vehicle.
Owner Steve Crowhurst told Newshub he was woken up at 3:45am by a notification on his phone that Fallenfront's alarm system had been activated.
"We shot off into town to find the whole front of the shop was down and a whole lot of gear stolen."
The force of the vehicle completely knocked a glass wall out of the side of the building.
Mr Crowhurst believes this was Raglan's first burglary since last summer, when many shops were broken into.
"That's why it's such a shame that this happened. It reminds us of what happened last summer and that it's continuing."
He says there's been a "rough crew starting to hang out in Raglan at the moment".
"I'm just a bit disappointed about all the hard work you put in, and people just help themselves to your property, especially on a public holiday, on Waitangi Day, when we're celebrating and being considerate about us all living together in New Zealand.
"When that kind of stuff happens it's a little bit disappointing."
He suspects the thieves were young because the way they moved was "pretty agile".
"They must have gone in and out about six times. Under three minutes and they were off, leaving town."
CCTV footage from a camera across the street recorded the entire ram raid, but the camera's exposure settings make it impossible to make out the registration plate number.
Council street cleaners who witnessed the culprits' getaway were unable to accurately identify the model of the car or the plate numbers.
Mr Crowhurst says Fallenfront staff are "gutted" to see the shop destroyed.
"I'm just reflecting on it, trying to work out how New Zealand society is in the state it's in, why kids this age do this kind of thing and why they feel they're entitled to do it - basically why they have the guts to drive a car into a big building and not really consider the fact that it is someone's business, someone's livelihood that they've worked hard for."
The thieves stole a lot of Adidas clothing, as well as New Balance shoes and a "whole rack" of apparel from popular brand Champion.
Mr Crowhurst thinks the thieves might try to sell the clothing on local Facebook buy-and-sell groups or Trade Me. He says police have advised to post about the break-in on social media and keep an eye out for the "distinctive" clothing.
"Unfortunately it felt like it was almost inevitable that it was going to happen at some point because of the type of gear we stock," he says.
"I don't see the point of it; I don't see the value of doing such a risky thing just for clothing. It makes you wonder what we need in this community to keep these fellas occupied."
On top of the stolen clothing, it will cost the business "well over" $3000 to repair the shopfront after it was shattered, which Mr Crowhurst says is a "major inconvenience".
"It's a bit of a kick in the guts."
He says he will look into installing bollards in front of the building to prevent future ram raids.
"That's the disappointing thing - how much do you have to spend on security to make sure that you're 100 percent failsafe?"
Police ask anyone with information about the incident to contact the nearest station and ask for Constable Hawkins, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Newshub.
