Harp on, creating tension (6

CRIME

RETAIL RAM-RAIDS CONTINUE ACROSS

EAST AUCKLAND The Noel Leeming store at Botany Town Centre was targeted by thieves on July 20. Times photo Wayne Martin

By CHRIS HARROWELL

Yet another east Auckland business is repairing the damage caused by offenders during an attempted ram-raid burglary.

The Noel Leeming store at Botany Town Centre was targeted by thieves on Tuesday night.

A police spokesperson says reports were received at about 10pm of a vehicle attempting to force entry to the store.

“The offenders’ vehicle damaged the front of the store.

“However, metal bars prevented the vehicle going further in, and nothing was stolen.

“Police attended, but the vehicle had left the scene. Enquiries are ongoing.”

Work was under way on Wednesday morning to repair damage the vehicle had caused to the store.

The incident drew a heated response on social media with numerous east Auckland residents expressing outrage over it.

The latest attempted ram-raid follows a long list of such incidents, as well as robberies, at local businesses in recent months.

The Michael Hill jewellery store at Botany Town Centre was targeted in an aggravated robbery by multiple people on July 18.

A police spokesperson said a group of offenders carrying tools entered the store and smashed several glass cabinets at about 5.40pm.

They stole a number of items and left in two vehicles, both of which were later found abandoned a short distance away.

Prior to that incident, two thieves ransacked the Tj Handcrafted store also at Botany Town Centre on July 11.

Security camera footage recorded inside the business shows one of the offenders use an instrument to smash a glass cabinet before stuffing items into a bag.

Both thieves then smash their way into a second large cabinet on the other side of the store and place more items into their bags, before breaking into a third cabinet and taking some of its contents.

Tj Handcrafted was also broken into at about 1.30am on April 20, and it was the site of an alleged aggravated robbery on January 10.

Ram-raid burglaries have also been carried out at stores in Howick in recent months.

David Fels Jeweller in Picton Street was damaged in a ram-raid just before midnight on April 4.

The offenders drove a stolen vehicle through the front of the business, then reversed out and manoeuvred the store’s grill to gain access.

They got inside, smashed several cabinets, and “helped themselves to the stock”, owner David Fels said at the time.

A group of people caused extensive damage during a ram-raid at LiquorLand Howick in Elliot Street at about 5am on April 3.

A vehicle was driven into the store before the thieves created a gap under a window frame and crawled inside.

They allegedly stole multiple bottles of alcohol and then fled.

Ormiston Town Centre in Flat Bush was targeted in two ram-raids in April while Centre Superette in Wharf Road, Bucklands Beach, was damaged and ransacked by thieves during a ram-raid just before 4am on January 19.

And three stores in Howick village were targeted by thieves in the early hours of March 8.

Paper Plus on Picton Street and Honeybun Jewellers and Vaporian Republic vape store in Moore Street were each broken into.

Valuable watches were among the items stolen from the jewellery store.

INTERNATIONAL AID

First local shipment arrives in Ukraine

By ZOE GARDEN

Two Ukranian-born New Zealanders have successfully delivered their first shipment to those in need in their wartorn homeland.

Dr Elena Artyukh, a Howick dentist for 22 years, and Valeriy Boyko, father of Andriy Boyko and longterm east Aucklander, began their fundraising campaign earlier this year (Times, April 19). The two set up a Givealittle page, approached businesses and contacts and set up a stall on Picton Street, spreading awareness and raising donations for their cause. So far they have raised about $30,000 in their campaign, including $2200 donated at a high tea at the Pohutukawa Coast Presbyterian Church.

Their first shipment of medical and humanitarian aid successfully arrived in Ukraine in late May. Ecoblankets were given to displaced families forced from eastern and southern Ukraine to the central part of the country, such as Poltava, Kremenchuk and Dnipro, and also to a hospital in the Donbas region.

Tactical medical items were converted into 75 immediate first aid kits (IFAK) by a group of volunteers from the Poltava and Mykolaiv area, and then passed on to a medical emergency services operating in close to a combat zone in Mykolaiv. “Seventy five kits may potentially save between 75-200 lives,” Boyko says.

General medicine supply was given to the National Medical Clinical Centre in Kyiv.

Oceanbridge Shipping delegated its resources and time and provided them with free air freighting and clearance on both sides - local and European. “That was really massive support,” Boyko says.

Shipment two will be food products: baked beans and tomato sauce packed in 400-425mm tins. “It’s easy to eat, easy to open, especially when cooking is difficult or unavailable,” Boyko says.

The total amount will be 20 tonnes, or 40,320 tins. Once packed, it will be collected and trucked into Ukraine. To do it more efficiently and cover significant parts of the area, Boyko and Artyukh teamed up with two similar volunteer funds, Boyko’s son Andriy and Ukraine Appeal ReliefAid, a Kiwi organisation established by Mike Seawright.

“We consolidated all our funds and split the shipment into three portions,” Boyko says.

The shipment is to be distributed in August.

A third shipment will be a combination of general medical and tactical supplies and humanitarian aid and is planned for late September.

Boyko and Artyukh are grateful for all the community support throughout their fundraising efforts.

Valeriy Boyko and his wife Elena Boyko at their fundraising stall on Picton Street.

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