Three men brandishing an axe robbed Knighton Road Dairy in Hillcrest, Hamilton at 7:15 p.m. on Monday, January 16, raising questions over the safety of retail store owners in the country.
Jaymin Patel, 40, was at the store serving a customer when the three men entered the store with an axe and robbed the counter of cash and packets of cigarettes within 40 seconds.
“The men entered and shouted ‘Do not move’. One wielded a knife on me, and the other two started taking out cash from the till and cigarettes from the cupboard behind,” Jaymin Patel, owner of the store, told Indian Weekender.
The customer present at the scene—a teenage girl—was a regular visitor to the store and stood still at the time of the robbery.
“Within a few seconds, the men were behind the counter, and one of them pushed me to the corner. The man with the axe shouted at the girl to ‘stay still’, and then two of them emptied the cash counter in a bag they carried, and the third person cleared the cigarette rack,” Mr Patel added.
The men were clad in a hoodie and bandannas partially covered their face. One was wearing dark shorts with a white shirt over dark long sleeve top and red shoes. Another had dim jeans and a dark top with tennis shoes.
The offenders robbed the store of approximately $4000, around $3000 worth cigarettes, and the rest in cash and coins.
The dairy store is located opposite the Waikato University and is frequented by both nearby residents and university students.
“The area is very friendly and safe but deserted at times, so maybe I became an easy target for the robbers,” Mr Patel added.
The trio fled in a vehicle waiting for them and was last seen heading along Knighton Rd towards Ruakura.
“All happened so quickly that I did not get a chance to raise the alarm or chase them. As soon as they left, I called the police and reported the robbery,” Mr Patel said.
The offenders are still absconding and the police is investigating the issue.
Indian Weekender, in its January 13, 2017 issue, published a complete report on the assaults and robberies during the Christmas and New Year holiday period. At least 10 armed robberies and assaults and five burglaries were reported during the period, a majority of them targeting dairy stores around the country.