Dairy held up at gunpoint twice in two months - shopkeeper (+VIDEO)

Shopkeepers at a Sandringham dairy say they have been robbed at gunpoint twice in the last two months.

An armed man attempted to steal money from the Rose Cottage Superette on Fowlds Ave at 7.30pm on Monday, April 11, said Sunil Patel, who was managing the dairy while the owner was away.

Mr Patel said his six-year-old daughter who was in the next room could hear shouting and was frightened by the incident.

“Suddenly, one guy ran in the shop and he pointed a gun,” he said. “Asking for money, money, money. I just ran away.”

Mr Patel said the offender tried to jump over the counter and grab the cash register, but it fell to the ground.

He then shouted from inside the next room where he had gone to hide that he was going to call the police and the man ran away.

He gave Te Waha Nui CCTV footage taken from outside the store which he said shows the moment two women were confronted by an armed man making his escape.

Mr Patel said the same shop was held up at gunpoint two months ago by a pair of men who stole everything from the cash register.

The store manager was worried about the safety of his family, and said the incident had taught him to always stay alert.

In an email statement provided to Te Waha Nui, City Western Area Commander, Inspector Jacqui Whittaker, said officers visited Mr Patel over the weekend to discuss concerns with him and to try prevent this from happening again.

Ms Whittaker said the investigation into the hold up at the Rose Cottage Superette was ongoing and they were following several positive lines of enquiry.

However, Mr Patel said robberies like this were happening more frequently in the community.

“There’s not enough police in the community. There needs to be stricter rules for robbery and crime.”

But one Sandringham resident, Michelle Britter, said locals had noticed more police in the community and people were becoming concerned.

“Sandringham has always been a pretty safe community,” she said. “But the police presence is making people worried - everyone just wants to know what’s going on.

“You can hear the police helicopters out most weekends,” she said. “It’s so loud I can’t even hear the TV.”

Ms Whittaker said in her statement that police have a community policing team based in Mt Roskill which may be causing residents to notice a high police presence in the neighbourhood.

Last month, owners of Woodward Dairy in neighbouring Mt Albert were attacked with a screwdriver during a robbery.

That incident followed a number of shoplifting reports at the store since December last year.

Peter Hayne, the chairperson of the Albert-Eden Local Board, said robberies like this often occurred in a groups.

“It might be a little spike, but it might not be significant in any real sense because you’ve just had a cluster of these events that are fairly rare.

“The police are chasing burglars around,” he said. “They did a crackdown in Newmarket and next thing you know we’ve got a spike in Mt Eden.”

Mr Hayne said the local board was giving grants to communities to hold neighbourhood days and street parties for people to increase their connections.

“It aims to get local neighbourhoods more secure because people are looking out for each other,” he said.

Shopkeeper Sunil Patel at the Sandringham dairy he is looking after for the owners. Photo: Alex McKenzie