Liquor store owner in Hamilton wakes to second ram raid this year
Wednesday, 15 September 2021
A Hamilton liquor shop has been ram raided for the second time this year.
Police visited the wrecked Thirsty Liquor in Claudelands on Wednesday after it was struck by a car at around 5.15am.
“A vehicle was driven into the windows of the store and left at the scene,” Senior Sergeant Pete Simpson told Stuff.
“We’re making enquiries to see what’s been stolen.”
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Owner Yang Fang said it was the second time the shop had been targetted, with an earlier raid taking place in February.
He arrived after a security alarm was raised to find police present.
“We don’t have the numbers yet [for what was stolen] but we’re presuming it’s pretty big,” he said.
“There’s more damage than before.”
Wednesday's raid comes after numerous cases of stolen vehicles being used to target shop fronts, with Hamilton city area commander Inspector Andrea McBeth earlier telling Stuff a dedicated taskforce has been set up to target these crimes.
“We have a lot of staff working on this at the moment.”
She said it was a specific group of people involved in the crime, which involved some young people and some adults.
In recent weeks there have been a number of ram raids across Hamilton, including a ram raid at the Chartwell Shopping Centre, and Heathcote Appliances at The Base.