Masked man may be dairy robber (+ video)

Caversham Dairy owner Harry Singh believes the man who robbed the Brighton On The Spot dairy on...
Caversham Dairy owner Harry Singh believes the man who robbed the Brighton On The Spot dairy on Sunday is the same man who entered his shop minutes before. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
A still from the CCTV footage.
A still from the CCTV footage.

The bumbling, "chubby'' thief who robbed a Brighton dairy on Sunday might have thought about robbing the Caversham Dairy half an hour earlier.

As of last night, he was still on the run.

A man fitting his description can be seen on CCTV footage walking into the Caversham Dairy about 30 minutes before making off with hundreds of dollars from the Brighton On The Spot dairy, spilling cash all over the floor as he left.

Described as a "chubby'' Maori, wearing a Jordan cap and a red bandana over his face, he used a screwdriver to threaten a female staff member at Brighton and make off with hundreds of dollars.

Caversham Dairy owner Harry Singh, his wife and 9-year-old daughter were sitting behind the counter when the masked man entered the store.

He asked for a price for some tobacco and then quickly left, Mr Singh said.

He watched the man on camera as he approached and believed he was spooked by a customer leaving the store.

"When he entered the shop with that covered face, I thought something was wrong. I saw a screwdriver in his left pocket.

"He seemed very scary,'' Mr Singh said.

Mr Singh added new security cameras in February after thieves stole $400 worth of products in an early morning raid.

The Otago Daily Times also viewed recent CCTV footage of signs outside Mr Singh's business being ripped off the shopfront.

Mr Singh had feared for the safety of his wife and daughter since the family opened the business in November.

He said he had not faced the same problems when he lived in Invercargill.

Mr Singh had built a high counter and put a grille on his shop window as well as installing the new cameras to try to deter thieves.

After this latest incident, he was contemplating putting protective glass across the counter.

He would also be contacting other dairy owners to warn them.

In a statement last night, police said it was too early to speculate whether the two incidents were related. They appealed for anyone with a dash-mounted camera in the Brighton dairy area between 6pm and 8pm on Sunday to contact them.

Brighton On The Spot dairy owner Azizah Steel said she was "shocked'' by the robbery as were her family and customers.

Police had visited before Sunday's incident to tell her to be vigilant after the Highgate Dairy was robbed at knifepoint on May 6.Mrs Steel said Brighton residents had been the victims of three other burglaries since Anzac Day and someone had tried to enter her garage by "ramming it with their car'' the same week.

Mrs Steel put a sign on her shop window following those incidents, which reads: "Beware. There's a thief in Brighton''.

Mrs Steel's daughter, Aslina Steel (28), said she felt unsafe in Brighton, more unsafe than when she was in some of the world's most dangerous places, including Somalia, South Sudan and in Kenya where she cleared land mines.

"People have the right to go to work and feel safe. Not only is this our shop, it's our family home.

"It's a community shop. We don't want it to be under lock and key.''

Residents spoken to in Brighton yesterday were concerned.

Rowan Newman said she was "worried and scared'' and would be more "cautious'' in the wake of recent crime in the area.

Elisabeth Cotton felt sorry for the shop owner but said it was "just the age we live in'', while John McShain said it was a tight-knit community and residents would look out for each other.

Senior Sergeant Shona Low, of Dunedin, said the person wanted in relation to the robbery of the Brighton dairy was still at large and police were still conducting inquiries.

They would contact both dairy owners to compare information, she said.

Dunedin police (03) 471-4800, Crimestoppers 0800-555-111.

 

 

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