Nelson dairy owners picking up the pieces after overnight ram raid

The son of dairy owners who were victims of a ram raid overnight says he may camp outside until a new door can be put in place.

Minh Ly, 27, works with his parents at the Milton Street Store on the corner of Milton and Grove St in The Wood, Nelson.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, he and his parents rushed to the store after four teenage boys reversed a stolen car into the front doors.

“They helped themselves to all the vapes, phones, a couple of lollies and all that, and pretty much took off.”

Police arrived at the scene soon afterwards and found the vehicle abandoned a short distance away, a police spokesperson said.

Four youths were located nearby. They were arrested without incident and charges were being considered.

Ly said the boys were only in the store for about one minute, but the impact of the raid was still lingering on Sunday as they tried to clean up the mess and move forward.

The store was able to reopen just after 12pm on Sunday, but with construction surrounding the building as they repair what had been broken, Ly was considering camping out front to help protect the store until it could be fixed.

While ram raids were always in the back of their minds, Ly said his parents were struggling to accept that this would happen in Nelson.

“Mentally, it’s very straining,” Ly said.

“We thought it probably wouldn’t happen as much here in the South Island, especially the upper South Island.

“Mum hasn’t slept since 1.30am last night, none of us have. We pretty much had to drive over and stand guard until something could be done about the front door.”

Ly said while the store had been raided in 2017, they had increased their surveillance and alarms, and had thought they would be reasonably safe due to how close they were to the local police station.

However, with new tobacco laws that will limit where cigarettes and vapes can be sold, Ly expected targeted ram raids to increase.

“I’m probably going to camp out here until we can get a proper door,” Ly said.

“This is how my family puts food on the table and clothes on our backs.

“It’s just going to keep happening if they’re just going to get a slap on the wrist. You can’t really do much about it when they’re young teenagers, 13, 14 years old, but at the same time, they shouldn’t be able to get away with it, because it’s affecting someone’s life.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced in July that the government would introduce a ram raid bill, to create a new offence and to allow police to prosecute 12-year-old ram raiders to help address these concerns.

Nelson’s MP, Rachel Boyack said the legislation was designed to help businesses and young offenders from reoffending.

She had visited the Ly’s on Sunday to check in with them and provide support.

“It’s obviously a really tough situation for them,” Boyack said.

“No-one wants to see crimes of this kind in their community.

“My heart goes out to the dairy owners. There’s no place for this type of crime in our community. I know that the community will wrap around them and provide that support.”

Boyack said local police would keep in touch with the Lys to assist them with any further security measures they can put in place, such as bollards, security doors and other security measures to ensure the business was protected.