Central Napier retailers are calling for more support to deter burglars after a series of smash-and-grabs – including a pharmacy which was targeted for a third time in 10 weeks.
Life Pharmacy Napier City owner and manager Peter Bailey told 1News the robbers were taking only perfume as these were easy to sell online.
A stock-take of perfumes has become an almost monthly task for his staff.
Bailey said the “flavours of the month” were Paco Rabanne’s 1 Million and Versace.
“It’s tough. You get woken up in the middle of the night and the police knocking on your window.”
Police said most of the recently stolen perfume has been recovered.
The shop on Napier’s main street surrounded by art deco-inspired buildings. But — with repairs costing an estimated $30,000 so far — Bailey said the store would have to be “spoilt” with a decidedly more modern look – a roller door system.
The break-ins were just the latest in a string of offending in the region.
“Over the last six months, we’ve had the sunglass shop, the perfumery, us, the hair salon – all broken into similar ways, just smash-and-grab,” he said. “Prior to that, they were doing Spark and Vodafone.”
Area Commander Lincoln Sycamore said February had the “lowest burglary reported crime that Hawke’s Bay’s had for the last seven years”.
“What we’ve seen over the past few weeks is an increase.”
He said the age of the alleged offenders was an added complication.
“Working within the youth justice space can be a challenge, particularly people’s perceptions of outcomes,” Sycamore said. “It is a very dynamic and complex set of circumstances that can be faced by a number of people and police are really mindful around getting the balance right.”
Local businesses wanted the council to install bollards and close the road at night.
In a statement, the Napier City Council told 1News bollards were to be installed as part of upgrades to this street but noted that the recent break-ins didn’t involve vehicles.
The council was exploring other crime prevention solutions too, such as installing more CCTV cameras in the area.
But some storeowners were contemplating shutting up shop.
“[We’re] getting to the stage where it’s tough out there at the moment,” Bailey said, and robberies “just make it tougher”.
One arrested, police vow to stay on the case
Police said today they have made one arrest for the burglary of the Life Pharmacy on Monday, June 16, and were following more positive lines of inquiry.
Hawke’s Bay Area Prevention Manager Inspector Caroline Martin said two offenders entered the Emerson St premises around 2.30am using a weapon to break through a glass door.
“They took several items from the store before fleeing the area.
“A short time later, police located one of the vehicles on Venables Ave and found items believed to be from the store.”
Martin said enquiries led police to identify and locate a youth.
“The youth has been referred to Youth Aid and the items have been returned to the store,” she said.
“It is unacceptable to see young people committing these types of offences, but we are pleased that the public and police working together resulted in one apprehension so far and recovery of the stolen items.
“We understand the harm and concern this causes for those in our community, especially our retailers.”
Martin said police hoped the arrest would remind the Napier community that police were taking offending of this nature seriously.
“We will continue to take action,” she said.
