Robberies prompt dairy owner to sell

Manjinder Sandhu says she is selling her Prince Albert Rd dairy after the nearby Stadium Store was targeted in a brazen theft by two masked offenders who remain on the run. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
Manjinder Sandhu says she is selling her Prince Albert Rd dairy after the nearby Stadium Store was targeted in a brazen theft by two masked offenders who remain on the run. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
Elgin Food Market owner Sunny Sun with the CCTV footage showing the masked man and woman who...
Elgin Food Market owner Sunny Sun with the CCTV footage showing the masked man and woman who robbed her Maryhill dairy on Monday. Photo: Christine O'Connor

A St Kilda dairy owner says her store is no longer worth the risk and she is selling, as a pair of masked robbers continue to target Dunedin dairies and evade police.

Manjinder Sandhu owns the A&A Foodmarket, in Prince Albert Rd.

On Sunday evening, the nearby Stadium Store, in Victoria Rd, was targeted by a masked man and woman who stole $1000 worth of cigarettes and loose tobacco before escaping in a red Mazda hatchback.

The following day, the pair appear to have robbed the Elgin Food Market in Mornington.

A man and woman matching their description also robbed the Musselburgh Food Centre last month at gunpoint.

A vehicle used in a petrol drive-off at the Challenge Fitzroy service station in Caversham on Sunday was found abandoned on a road near Milton yesterday.

Police said last night they had not connected the vehicle to the two dairy thefts, but a red vehicle was seen in the vicinity at the time those occurred.

Yesterday, a tearful Ms Sandhu said she had been robbed at knifepoint two years ago, but the recent spate of dairy robberies in Dunedin prompted her to sell her business and move to the country with her young children.

''My husband is a dairy farmer so we will move to the farm.

''I don't feel comfortable here in the evenings.''

Originally from India, Ms Sandhu said her business was already suffering after she reduced her opening hours to prevent night-time or early morning burglaries.

Police officers have interviewed the owners of the Elgin Food Market after it was robbed on Monday night.

Co-owner Sunny Sun said her husband was working at their Maryhill dairy when the masked pair entered the store, the man brandishing a pistol.

The pair rushed around the back of the counter, grabbed a till containing about $1500, and left.

The store's recently installed security system caught the masked pair on tape.

A red hatchback was seen by a witness outside the store as the robbery took place.

It matched the description of the car involved in the petrol drive-off and used in the Stadium Store theft.

A police spokeswoman confirmed yesterday evening the man and woman remained at large.

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

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