'Someone knows something': Dairy owners who threw boiling oil at robbers still waiting for arrests

Friday, 24 July 2026

Four offenders smashed into Patel’s Mini Market in Te Kūiti around 7am on July 15, assaulting store owner Hemant Patel before fleeing in a white station wagon.

The thieves swept cash from the till and filled plastic tubs with tobacco, escaping with around $10,000 worth of tobacco and $1,500 in cash in just over a minute.

Patel suffered cuts and bruises to his face during the assault, but fought back by throwing boiling oil from the store's deep fryer at one of the robbers.

Over a week after the robbery, no arrests have been made, and the owners say they feel unsafe and plan to operate from behind a protective security cage in the future.

Dairy owners who threw boiling oil at a group who smashed up their store and stole over $11,000 worth of tobacco and cash say “someone knows something” about the pack of violent thieves.

Te Kūiti businessman Hemant Patel was left bruised and bleeding after the attack last Wednesday, the first time he and his wife Bhavna had been robbed in the ten years they have been in the King Country town.

Over a week later, no arrests have been made.

Although he was injured, Patel did fight back and threw boiling oil from the deep fryer at one assailant, who blocked its path with a plastic container.

The robbery on July 15 came after Hemant opening Patel’s Mini Market at 5am, ready for a steady stream of early-morning workers.

By 7am there was money in the till and in just over a minute it was all gone, after four people rushed in and smashed up the shop and its owner, fleeing with around $10,000 worth of tobacco and $1500 in cash.

They first smashed open the fried chicken warmer with a hammer to announce their arrival. One of the robbers then went for the till, while another vaulted onto the counter and began to punch and kick Hemant Patel.

Two more ran in carrying plastic tubs and began filling them with tobacco.

Hemant Patel ran into the back of the store and retrieved the oil after the first assault, throwing at one robber as the group began to make their escape.

The group fled in a white station wagon that was parked outside, leaving the store trashed and its owners in fear.

Her husband suffered cuts and bruises to his face, but Bhavna Patel said they were “very disturbed” by the violent robbery and don’t feel safe in the shop any more, planning to trade from behind a cage in the future.

Over a week later there have been no arrests and a police spokesperson would only say the investigation is ongoing and “police continue to make enquiries”.

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Speaking to Stuff on Friday, Bhavna Patel thanked the Te Kūiti community for their “huge support” after the robbery.

“They are very angry,” she said, describing a flurry of social media sleuthing that had resulted in a photo shared that purported to be of one of the robbers.

The image shows someone dressed in similar clothing and surgical mask as one of the robbers that was caught on CCTV, holding cash in a fan.

Hemant Patel kept a stick under the counter but didn’t have time to reach it. Now the couple want an upgraded security system, including a protective cage.

“We don't want to do that because we don't want to put ourselves in a cage, but now we have to because we can't stop doing what we're doing,” she said.

She feared that the spoils from the robbery might spur to the group to re-offend and Bhavna Patel wants them caught so no one else had to go through what they had.

“Someone knows something,” she told Stuff, urging anyone with information to come forward and talk to police.

“We still feel unsafe.”