'Give me your f***ing money,” was the demand from two robbers during a raid on the 14th Ave Dairy this afternoon.
The 14th Ave dairy which was robbed earlier this afternoon.
'They were pretty agro,” says dairy owner Phil, who did not want his last name published.
'They just came in with bandanas over their mouths and noses and had a wheel brace. "They said, ‘Give me your f***ing money' about three or four times and wanted me to get into the till which I did.
'Then they took cigarettes and cash, it's got to be worth a couple of thousand [dollars].”
Phil appeared unshaken after the robbery and was back open for business shortly after the incident which he described as 'pretty violent”.
He says there were two robbers and a possible third in the car outside.
It's not the first time Phil's been robbed in 25 years of owning the dairy.
'We've had two armed robberies many years ago. I've probably half a dozen over the years, but the other ones were at night.”
Despite the robberies, Phil's still selling the cigarettes he has left and retains a sense of humour about it.
Phil told a regular customer after the robbery, 'They took some of your [cigarettes] but they left me with two for you”.
The 14th Ave Dairy in Tauranga South is the second dairy to be robbed in less than 24 hours after two men robbed a dairy on Cameron Road yesterday evening.
Police say two men wearing masks and armed with a hammer walked into the dairy and stole the cashier's till at 5.30pm on Sunday.
A small amount of money and tobacco is also said to have been stolen.
7 comments
There's more to this...
Posted on 18-07-2016 19:26 | By namxa
Can't help noticing that cigarettes are always stolen in these cases...is it possible that if tobacco wasn't taxed at around 80% that these robberies may not happen quite so frequently? Seems like blatant revenue grabbing to this NON smoker, to take one of the most addictive LEGAL substances and tax the user to the nth degree. Am I the only one who thinks like this??
@namxa
Posted on 19-07-2016 10:26 | By 2cents
There are no excuse for these criminal activities. The government is taxing cigarettes at a very high rate to cover the costs that cigarette smoking costs our FREE health system and to ensure a smoke free NZ. I personally gave up smoking after 26 years due to the cost of them! #smokefreenz
Have to agree
Posted on 19-07-2016 10:44 | By wannabeme
Does always seem to be cigarettes stolen not so many tampons flying off the shelves. Its only going to get worse as the price keeps going up.
To Namxa
Posted on 19-07-2016 11:59 | By Clare74
Maybe on the other hand all dairies should stop selling the disgusting things and reduce their risks also - that way it is a win for all. The goal of reducing and eventually becoming smokefree is awesome. I'm not sure if taxation is the only thing I would be doing I would also increase the legal age every year too. BTW There is no excuse for crime.
Smokes
Posted on 19-07-2016 15:05 | By Politically Incorrect
Cigarettes are targeted because they are easy to sell on, there's always a market for cheap cigarettes. However, what was stolen and why is pretty irrelevant. The fact of the matter is, these and any other crimes like it have no place in our society. Work for your living, don't terrorize and steal from others working hard for it.
Watch this space...
Posted on 19-07-2016 16:44 | By laugeo
At the rate things are going, cigarettes are going to be a more lucrative business than current 'illegal' drugs and yes, crimes that target the theft of them will surely only rise as a result. Think about it, if the government really wanted a smoke free NZ, why wait until 2025 or whenever, why not just ban them now? I'll help you out with the answer to that question - they want the revenue! Smokers are being mercilessly targeted in a world that usually seems to protest against the persecution of any minority but in this case the government act with the blessing of most because it doesn't affect them. No pursuit of the real scourge (and expense) of our society (alcohol) but would there be the same support for taxation along the same lines as tobacco, I suspect not.
2cents
Posted on 19-07-2016 16:58 | By laugeo
I understand what you say about the cost to the health system for treatment of smoking related diseases. I have a couple of issues with it though - I have read that smokers die on average 15 years before the average non smoker so I reckon the reduced costs of servicing their pensions should go some way to covering the health costs? Now, if yours is a fair point, then what about the cost to the health sector (police, courts and the general public at large!) of alcohol? Who is paying for that? Given that I have never heard of anyone being assaulted because someone was 'off their face' on tobacco - I just think it is a blatant double standard. I am willing to bet that alcohol costs the health system 50 to 100 times more than tobacco if the truth were told.
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