A smash-and-grab at a Whakatāne CBD jewellery store prompted an armed police response today.
Police said they were called to a store on The Strand about 3.40pm after three masked people entered.
“Staff were able to leave through a rear door, and thankfully no injuries have been reported,” a police spokesperson said.
Police said officers responding were armed as a precaution, but the trio had fled in a stolen vehicle.
Patrols were alerted, and the vehicle was later spotted in Rotorua.
Police spiked it at the Old Taupō Rd and Devon St roundabout, and had three people in custody and were seeking a fourth, the spokesperson said.
Georgia Cobb, whose family owns Renshaws Showcase Jewellers, told the Rotorua Daily Post that men allegedly carrying “multiple different weapons” had “smashed up” the store’s windows and stolen a “good amount” of stock.
She arrived just after 4pm to find the store’s staff safe but “shaken up”.
The longstanding family-owned jewellery business was previously hit in an early-morning ram raid in 2022.
Other jewellery stores on The Strand have also faced serious retail crime incidents, leading the Michael Hill Jeweller shop to close in 2024.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.