Auckland store owner sleeps in his shop, glued to CCTV, after five attacks

Wednesday, 27 April 2022

Multiple ram raids and burglaries at Auckland’s Sandringham Liquor Store has prompted shop owner Andy Lin to sleep in the store to prevent the ram raiders from striking again.

Andy Lin has spent a week drifting in and out of consciousness every night at work, his eyes glued to CCTV cameras.

Meanwhile his wife, Anna Zheng, lies awake at home worrying for his safety.

Their Sandringham store, a local liquor shop, has been attacked five times since November.

Sandringham Liquor Store owner Andy Lin has set up a deck chair in front of two CCTV camera screens. Lin said he can't afford to 'sleep heavily” in case the ramraiders come back.

The ordeal has included three ramraids, more than $50,000 in product stolen and $14,000 in damage to the store. Last week, their shop was ramraided twice in two days.

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Anna Zheng, wife of Andy Lin, said she’s scared for Lin’s safety. She wakes up at 3am to check her husband is OK.

It was after the fifth attack, on April 21, that Lin and his wife decided he would stay and guard the shop. He showed Stuff his minimalistic set-up: a deck chair perched in front of two large CCTV camera screens.

Lin doesn't sleep in a bed. He said he can't afford to “sleep heavily” in case the ramraiders come back.

“About 2am I go to sleep. I can do reading and peer up [at the camera footage] – I’m getting much less sleep at night,” he said.

Zheng said the store needs to be guarded until a new roller door is installed. It will take two months.

Lin’s wife, Zheng, said her husband doesn't come home from work any more. She spends every night worried something will happen to him.

They talk to each other on the phone each night, but Zheng stays home as the couple don't want to risk her safety too.

Most of the attacks have happened between 3am and 4am – Zheng said she now wakes up automatically between those hours, and has to check in with Lin to make sure he’s OK.

Sandringham Business Association chair Jithin Chittibomma said he wants to see 50 local businesses contributing towards private security guards to patrol the streets at night.

When asked how long the couple will keep this up, Zheng said there’s a need for the store to be guarded until a new roller door is installed.

It will be about two months until the roller door is in place, but Zheng doesn’t think Lin can sleep at the shop for that long.

“No, I don't think we’ll be able to do this for two months. We're just thinking whatever we can do for now, we’ll do,” she said.

These sorts of stories are the result of a spate in crime sweeping several districts in Auckland – particularly Sandringham. The local business association said the area is suffering two to three ramraids a week.

Stuff told the story last week of a Sandringham business that’s been robbed four times, twice at knife-point. The local dairy was raided two weeks ago.

Zheng and Lin have owned their liquor store for 13 years. After 12 years without serious incident, the first raid came in November, when offenders broke in through the back door and stole a few hundred dollars’ worth of beer.

“Quite a few shops around us have been ramraided. Since November, I haven’t felt the same way about running a shop in this village,” said Zheng.

The Sandringham Business Association is responding with a security patrol on foot.

With police unreliable for such patrols due to call-out demand, the association is turning to the private sector for assistance. So far, 20 businesses have agreed to pay a weekly contribution to two full-time security guards.

Association chairman, Jithin Chittibomma wants to get 50 businesses on board.

“Look, tomorrow something stupid could still happen, even with security. But having somebody on the ground to immediately call police would deter ramraids,” he said.