The owner of a Mount Albert restaurant burgled on Saturday has described the physical and financial damage it has caused.
HomeCooked Family Bistro owner Eric spoke with Newshub and admitted he's "still trying to wrap my head around it".
A man broke into the doors of the store on New North Road, at around 5am on Saturday ahead of the store's opening hours.
Eric shared CCTV footage with Newshub and said the man was inside the store for more than an hour looking for money.
However, he ended up stealing musical equipment and alcohol totalling an estimated loss of $30,000 to $50,000.
"He forced the front door open because it is a sliding glass door," Eric explained to Newshub.
"He was there for an hour-and-a-half just roaming around, trying to look for cash I think. He was checking the cash register and shaking cans of Milo," he said.
"We have some musical instruments in the facility because we do a live band on Fridays and Saturdays, so he took all the guitars, the drums, speakers, amplifiers, mixers, even the wires and extensions. He just took everything on the stage."
Eric said the man then discovered the liquor and decided to take it.
"He went to the kitchen and there's a bucket containing sugar, he threw away the sugar to use the bucket to put all the beers in there," he said.
Eric said even when he discovered there was CCTV he didn't stop.
"He looked at the camera, he looked shocked, but that didn't stop him. He knew that he was caught on CCTV but he just kept on going," he said.
"I haven't really gotten my head wrapped around it but I'm assuming we're looking at around a $30,000 to $50,000 loss."
He said he was shocked the burglar entered the store all by himself.
"I was shocked actually, because the thing is mostly for burglars, they go and look for cash and liquor, but he was all alone and no one was with him. He's just doing it all by himself," Eric said.
When asked if he was hopeful of getting the equipment back, Eric said even then, it wouldn't be the same.
"Even if we retrieve them, because of the way he handled them it's going to be smashed all over," he said. "The condition of them, it wouldn't be nice anymore."
Eric said he's mainly just grateful the man left before his staff arrived.
"The main thing for me is to catch the guy, he's going to do this again for sure," he said.
"I'm glad that it happened from 5am and finished at 6:20am, because at 6:30am - just 10 minutes later - my chef arrived.
"I'm just grateful that they didn't meet at the same time, I don't know what would have happened and my chef could have been in trouble," he stressed.
Police confirmed they received a report of a burglary at a restaurant on New North Road.
"The matter is being assessed for lines of enquiry," a spokesperson said.
