Recent robberies targeting two Mt Roskill liquor stores have left the manager at his wit's end.
In March, the Melrose Liquor store did not qualify for the government's crime prevention fund - which would have helped increase security measures - because it had not yet been hit by an "armed" robbery.
But since then, the store has had two armed robberies in the space of two months.
The latest was on Sunday, when staff were confronted by a person with a screwdriver.
"This guy just walked in, went for the till and scared the staff over there basically with the screwdriver. Lucky enough the staff went out and locked them in," manager Jash, who asked to only be identified by his first name, said.
Staff made a run for it while the robber struggled to remove the till, which had been securely drilled to the counter after the previous robbery incident, he said.
"He then grabbed a fire extinguisher, broke the [front door's window] basically and tried to get out from there, but then the staff pulled down the roller door, and then he went all the way out the back and went through the roof."
Melrose Liquor store's manager says a person who was locked in the shop after trying to take the till tried to break out through the door's window. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Jash was alerted by the store's live security video link while at home and raced down to help staff.
Police said they received reports at 5.25pm on Sunday of a person entering a store with a weapon and demanding cash and a person was arrested at 5.40pm.
Jash said the nearby Three Kings liquor store, which he also managed, had recently been robbed too.
"We had an armed robbery just while closing the [Melrose Liquor] store at night, three guys came in with a gun, then the second time it was in the afternoon [at the Three Kings store] where like six kids who came in with hammers and screwdrivers and tried to scare the person who was there and the third time is [on Sunday at Melrose Liquor]."
A person who was locked in Melrose Liquor after trying to take the till then escaped through the roof, the store's manager says. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Jash intended to upgrade the alarm system and CCTV but also wanted more lights to be installed along the street.
However, he believed the "prevention" aspect of the crime prevention fund was simply not working.
Manager of Melrose Liquor store and Three Kings liquor store Jash. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
"You install security measures [and] that store might not get hit, but the next door store might because it doesn't have it," he said.
"You know, a life is a life, it's mine or someone else."
The frequency with which his businesses were targeted had him considering a career change.
"Because if there is no security then what are we doing here, you know, people are worried about being in New Zealand at the moment."
After the recent armed robberies, Jash was sending another application for assistance from the crime prevention fund.
