Criminals steal money from the till at Propaganda store. Photo: Supplied
Boxing day should have been the busiest trading day for a popular Rangiora clothing store. Instead, owners of Propaganda Streetwear & Skate were cleaning up the mess after being ransacked.
At 2.30 AM on Monday, five youths smashed into the store stealing more than $10,000 worth of stock.
Propaganda owner Jess Guest told Chris Lynch the youths approached the shop in a stolen car smashing in the front window, before entering the store.
“They made their way around the shop grabbing various items; caps, women’s clothing, a lot of sunglasses, motocross goggles, and cash from the till.
They appeared very young. We are absolutely heartbroken to lose not only the stock but to have to close on one of the biggest trading days of the year – it’s a big hit.”
Criminals grab handfuls of t-shirts. Photo: Supplied
“We are a young family with four kids under eight and have built this business ourselves from nothing over the last 9 years.
Theft in general has been really bad this year. We have seen a massive increase in just the ‘everyday theft’ that would usually only occur maybe once a month – to being weekly.”
Jess said “we have been crying out for support from the council to put bollards in front of our shop to protect us from a ram raid and they keep telling us no, that something serious would need to happen on the High Street before they consider it.
And now unfortunately that’s been us.”
Criminal helps himself to sunglasses. Photo: Supplied
“We have asked for more community police to walk the street to help retailers feel safe and supported.
This month that actually happened a few times which was great.
But we are worried about the future going forward. The police were fortunate to get a tip from a rubbish truck driver who went past while it was happening and phoned in the license plate.”
Jess said the offenders were spotted in Christchurch by police, but given the laws, once the pursuit was initiated, police had to stop, so they got away.
“They got a pretty decent chunk of product which has affected our ability to run a normal Boxing Day sale.”
In another attack, a vape store on Lincoln Road was targeted by youths on Christmas Eve.
A police spokeswoman said no arrests have been made and inquiries are ongoing to identify and locate offenders and to determine whether there are any links between the events.
WATCH: Youths ransack Rangiora store
