WARNING: This story and video contains graphic details and may be distressing.
An Auckland dairy customer has been left bruised, frightened, and traumatised after being hit on the head with a hammer.
Despite activating the fog cannon, the shopkeeper at Mt Roskill's Jyotis Dairy was also badly hurt by two armed robbers, who took off with tobacco and cash.
Small business owners say it shows that not enough has changed since dairy worker Janak Patel was fatally stabbed less than 2km away in November last year.
Those who robbed Jyotis Dairy are still at large and police investigations are continuing.
CCTV footage supplied to RNZ shows two hooded and masked men enter the dairy on Mount Albert Road and deliver blow after blow on the shopkeeper.
There was only one customer in the shop at the time - a neighbour and friend of the family who had popped in to say hi to the owner, Jayanti, and his wife.
The customer, who did not want to be identified, spoke to RNZ after he had been released from hospital.
"I could see one or two people came in, then I said hello because they were looking at me... he gave me a blow with a hammer, then I realised, then the other lady said run, run, you are being attacked."
He ran into the back of the shop to the owners' living quarters. He could not see the rest of the attack, but he could hear it.
"Two of them just jumped inside and then attacked that lady, they kept on hitting."
Despite the activation of the fog cannon, the offenders were not deterred.
"I could hear the lady yelling 'leave me, leave me, leave me, please, leave me, take anything you want take it, but leave me'."
They left after about 30 seconds, making off with tobacco and cash.
Blood was all over the shop floor and gushing out of the shopkeeper's head.
"I saw [her] bleeding, all over the face was blood."
The man was not badly hurt, which he said was thanks to his thick beanie. But he has been left with multiple bumps and bruises and is still in pain.
"I'm scared, I'm scared and not happy. I've been living here 22 years, this is the first time it happened to me."
Jayanti's wife and the customer returned to their homes from hospital on Thursday morning. Jayanti's wife has seven stitches and the couple have been left traumatised.
Dairy and Business Owners Group chairman Sunny Kaushal visited the shopkeeper's family, who he said had run the dairy for the past 15 years and were well known in the community.
The incident made it clear fog cannons were not the only answer and in some instances did more harm than good, Kaushal said.
"A big issue is it has covered the CCTV and it has also masked the offenders so you cannot identify them, so fog cannons also have ill effects."
The incident took place less than 2km away from where dairy worker Janak Patel was fatally stabbed at the Rose Cottage Dairy on Sandringham Road last year.
Many businesses had experienced armed robberies.
One superette owner told Checkpoint they were also robbed last year.
"Big weapon he had yeah, he jumped on the counter, he took the cigarettes."
Levi Sun, who owns a dumpling restaurant on Sandringham Road, said some business owners feared going to work.
"I've been here in New Zealand around 20 years and [it's] never been like this before, we feel very unsafe."
Sandringham Business Association chairperson Jithin Chittibomma said he was reaching the end of his tether due to the number of these incidents.
"The word frustrating doesn't cut it anymore, you know, it's beyond frustrating.
"So I have to check my vocabulary now. It shouldn't be happening, it's almost two years we've been warning the government about it."
Chittibomma said police officers he had spoken to felt similarly helpless to stop the crime.
"There's nothing more they can do with the resources they've got at the moment, so I can't complain when it comes to the police, they're equally frustrated especially when it comes to youth crime.
"I haven't heard of any significant announcement when it comes to, you know, changes in legislation or ... a framework of how we're going to tackle this."
Police Minister Ginny Andersen declined to talk to Checkpoint.
She released a statement calling the offending "abhorrent" and said the government would continue to resource police so they could catch those responsible and hold them to account.
