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Stuff
Pensioner Don Staples said his cashbox was grabbed by this man during the Thorndon Farmers’ Market.
A farmer’s marker produce seller says he will be feeling the pinch after a thief took off with most of his earnings in a brazen snatch-and-grab.
Don Staples, 73, said he had been selling his organic produce at his stall at the Thorndon Farmers’ Market on Saturday when a young man ran off with the majority of his cash earnings.
The young man, who was wearing a dark hoodie, had been handling his produce when he suddenly grabbed Staple’s cash box from his stall and “hightailed it down the road.”
Staples said he and five people nearby ran after the man, yelling at him to stop.
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While Staples and the majority of the people were unable to catch up with the thief, Staples said a man called Tim Morrison managed to catch up with him on foot.
He said Morrison found the man on Bowen St, while he was trying to hide and put the cash in his pocket.
“He managed to sort of grab that cash box back off him, pick up what he could see, and made his way back to where we were.”
Staples said, while it was hard to be sure how much was in the box, there was between $400 and $600.
Morrison managed to return about $200 of the cash – however, the majority of the money was gone.
Staples said a man approached him fifteen minutes later and said he had managed to take photos of the man who had taken his cash box. Stuff chose to blur the man’s face.
The 73-year-old said he had been driving down from the Wairarapa to attend the Wellington Farmer’s Market for three years. Selling his organic produce and homemade cashew cheese, he had built up a regular customer base, and the other produce sellers at the market were like “a family”.
He said he had never experienced this kind of theft before.
“I feel [it is] an unfortunate reflection on the state of society today and the apparent freedom for people to commit crimes without fear of sanction. I hate admitting it but I am a pensioner and the loss of money definitely hurts.”
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