Auckland jewellery heist: Police probing Pascoes raid at North West Mall

A “significant” amount of jewellery has been stolen from an Auckland jewellery shop early this morning.

Offenders forced their way into the North West Shopping Centre in Massey about 4.30am, a police spokeswoman said.

Once inside the centre they forced their way into a shop, understood to be a Pascoes store.

It’s the second time the jewellery chain has been targeted by burglars in eight days, and follows a string of heists at Michael Hill Jeweller stores over the last year.

“A significant quantity of property was stolen from the shop before the offenders left the area in a vehicle,” the police spokeswoman said.

Police wouldn’t confirm which shop was targeted but a shopper told the Herald the mall’s Pascoes was cordoned off and police officers were fingerprinting the premises.

A woman who answered the phone at the jewellery store said she couldn’t comment. A message to the chain’s head office is unanswered as yet.

Anyone with information should contact police on 105 and quote file number 210814/4203, the police spokeswoman said.

Information could also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

The last jewellery heist occurred at Sylvia Park Mall’s Pascoes store on Friday last week.

Emergency services were called to the mall in Mt Wellington, Auckland just after 7pm on August 6.

Reports indicated the male robber’s weapon was not a firearm and no one was hurt, a police spokeswoman said at the time.

Two shops in Onehunga’s Dress Smart were also hit by thieves last week, one a Michael Hill Jeweller store.

The robbery was the latest in a string of about nine Michael Hill Jeweller heists over the past year.

The chain’s Whakatāne branch was ram-raided last month when two people smashed their way into the store’s glass cabinets using a tomahawk before making off with thousands of dollars’ worth of jewellery.

Source: Read Full Article