Sergeant Gurpreet Arora
Thursday, June 30, 2016
At about 920 pm on Saturday, June 25, 2016, four men entered a liquor store in Manurewa in South Auckland.
One of them, armed with a tyre iron and went around the counter towards the cash register. The second man stood on the customer side of the counter and pointed a weapon at the staff, while the third man stood in the store but did not threaten anyone.
The men ran away with some boxes of beers/RTD and cash register.
The staff followed them in their vehicle but lost sight of them after sometime.
No one was injured in the incident.
Excellent Investigative work done by Police afterwards resulted in all four offenders being located and arrested by Armed Offenders Squad within a few hours of the incident.
The men have been charged with Aggravated Robbery and the matter is now before Courts.
Another incident
About an hour earlier on the same day (Saturday June 25, 2016), a man was working at a liquor store in Manurewa. There was another person present in the store.
Six men entered the store armed with wooden sticks. Two of them confronted the victim with wooden sticks who was behind the counter and the other four stole alcohol.
The six men got into a Subaru vehicle and drove away.
The Police were called and their quick response saw the Subaru vehicle being located at a short distance from the liquor store.
Four males were arrested by Manurewa Police and all of them have been referred to Youth Aid.
Community Engagement:
Retailers Meeting: Inspector Jason Hewett and Inspector Uraia Vakaruru attended a public meeting of retailers from Papatoetoe on Thursday, June 23, 2016 and provided an update on the work carried out by Police to address retailer’s concerns.
Ramadan: Counties Manukau attended two Iftar ceremonies at Mosques in Wiri and Otahuhu as it is the Holy Month of Ramadan of our Muslim brothers and sisters.
Counties Manukau Police wishes Muslim Community greetings for Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr.
Prevention
Retail Safety:
Retailers are encouraged to know their neighbours so that they can assist each other in case of an emergency. Call 111 if you see any suspicious individuals or vehicles hanging around your shops.
Sergeant Gurpreet Arora is District Ethnic Services Coordinator at Counties Manukau District Police.
