A series of ram raids and burglaries has struck multiple businesses across Christchurch this week, with police examining possible links between the incidents.
An outdoors clothing store in Addington was targeted on Tuesday morning, followed by Westfield Riccarton shopping centre on Thursday morning. Four establishments along Kennedy's Bush Rd and Halswell Road were broken into during the early hours of Friday: Halswell Cafe, Sushi Fusion, Halswell Noodle Delights, and Halswell Seafood Centre.
At Earth Sea Sky in Addington, two men wearing black hoodies smashed a window and entered at 3:40am Tuesday. Owner Mike Ellis said approximately $18,000 worth of clothing was stolen within 10 seconds.
Thieves used a vehicle to smash into the Westfield Riccarton entrance on Rotherham St around 5am Thursday, took items, and fled in the same vehicle. Tradesmen were observed repairing glass and doors at the shopping centre later that morning.
At Sushi Fusion, security footage showed one man jumping onto a table and dropping items to the ground. A cash drawer containing coins was stolen but the thief discarded it in the car park, where a member of the public found and returned the money. One of the restaurant's till computer monitors was broken during the break-in. Owner Vicky Huang said her "brain is so tired now" after dealing with the incident.
Anson Chen, who owns Halswell Seafood Centre and Halswell Noodle Delights, had to postpone opening hours to clean up after security footage showed a lone man entering after a car smashed open the doors. The thief took a mostly empty cash drawer from one of Chen's businesses and left another empty drawer untouched. "It's just quite terrible that it's happened later in the week. Friday is the busiest day of the week," Chen said.
Inspector Paul Reeves, Christchurch police metro area response manager, said police are investigating whether the incidents are linked. No arrests had been made as of Friday afternoon. Police said they are following multiple lines of enquiry to identify and locate the offenders. Police have asked anyone with information to contact them online at 105.police.govt.nz or by calling 105.