The director of an Auckland jewellery store says police "should have been more alert" before an armed robbery in Botany, as two people on a moped attempted to break into his Papatoetoe business the day before.
Police were called to reports of a robbery at a jewellery store at Botany Town Centre at about 2.20pm yesterday. The incident forced shoppers to flee the scene.
A police spokesperson today told 1 NEWS investigations into the Botany incident where two men, one armed with a shotgun, got away with "a quantity of jewellery" are ongoing.
In the Botany incident, the thieves fled on a moped which was later found in East Tāmaki. It is being examined by police.
"Our inquiries are continuing, including scene examinations being conducted at the store yesterday," the spokesperson said.
"Anyone who has information that may assist our inquiries and has not spoken with police is asked to come forward."
Bu Kuldip Singh, director of Luthers Jewellers in Papatoetoe, says the Botany incident "shouldn't have happened".
Singh today told 1 NEWS he'd alerted police to an attempted robbery at his store the day before and expected officers to be "more alert".
Security footage of the Papatoetoe incident shows two people - one wearing a motorcyle helmet, the other a face mask - riding a moped up to his store's entrance and attempt to get in by pulling the door.
Thankfully, Luthers Jewellers has a security lock, meaning customers have to ring a bell to gain access to the shop.
"They quickly nudged the door few times and took off," Singh said.
"We were slightly frightened but stayed calm and called the cops straight away."
The Papatoetoe incident happened just before 3pm on Saturday, Singh said. He claims that the same pair also attempted to but failed to break into another jewellery store nearby on the same day.
The police spokesperson said officers received a report of "suspicious activity" at the Papatoetoe (Luthers Jewellers) address shortly before 5pm on Saturday.
"Police are making inquiries into the incident and those inquiries are ongoing."
However, the spokesperson said there was no indication at this stage to suggest any links between the two robberies.
Singh said there had been other attempted robberies at his store in the past.
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