History repeats itself for Christchurch’s ‘first ramraid victim’

When Greg Bramwell got the call early Friday, it brought back bad memories from a “past life” – his store was once again the target of ram raiders.

He arrived at his camera shop in Merivale, a suburb of Christchurch, where glass was all over the floor, the shattered remains of two sets of doors and a balustrade of a staircase leading to Photo and Video International.

Fortunately, there was no sign of any damage upstairs – none of the cabinets appeared to have been broken into, nothing had been stolen, and Bramwell said he was surprised a camera shop would still be targeted.

“The funny thing is, I thought cameras weren’t cool enough to steal anymore. They’d steal bourbon, tobacco, and phones,” Bramwell said as he swept up the broken glass in the lobby at the entrance to Papanui Road Friday morning.

“He probably went up there and was very disappointed. Run around the store and off you go.”

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It was the second ram raid on Friday in Christchurch, after a similarly attacked shop on Yaldhurst’s Pound Rd at 1 a.m.

Those responsible left the scene before police arrived and have not yet been found, police said.

It comes in the midst of a increase in ram raids across the country.

There were 254 ram raids in the first six months of the year, compared to 151 recorded by police in all of 2019, police data shows.

For Bramwell, it was a repeat of history – he says his shop was attacked by ram raiders four times in the early 2000s in the space of eight months, and he believes he was the first victim of such a crime in Christchurch.

Those attacks were when the store was located at the entrance to Merivale Mall.

“I forgot the other one, it seems like a past life – we’ve been safe for so long.”

In one of those ram raids, $214,000 worth of stock was stolen, prompting Bramwell—who then owned the store—to change the layout of the store and put in a solid front wall in what is now the Sterling Sports building.

“When cameras weren’t worth stealing anymore, I took the wall out and turned it back into glass.”

The store, which Bramwell now runs after selling it some time ago, moved a few doors down in 2019 and now shares a downstairs entrance with clothing store Death by Denim and Ecco shoes, neither of which were targeted.

stuff understands that a black car was involved in the ram raid, which took place at 5.15 am.

The perpetrator was found in his car around the corner from the store, according to security, Bramwell said.

One person was arrested, a police spokesman said, and a 33-year-old was due to appear in court on charges of burglary and possession of cannabis.

Bramwell said the raid wouldn’t stop him or the two adjacent stores from trading, praising the security firm’s work for being so quick to respond and getting there in less than three minutes.

“I want to thank [them] and the police for getting to work so quickly and doing such a good job.”

Police said earlier this year that they thought that social media caused the increase in ram raids, and a report released under the Official Information Act said that “ram raids are allegedly committed for fun and fame” by the next generation.

Earlier this year, then-Police Secretary Poto Williams announced that: $6 million of crime fund proceeds would be used to fund security measures for shops such as dairies, including bollards and barriers.

However, only five retailers have benefited from the fund so faraccording to an update from the police.

So far 40 assessments have been made and 23 of those stores have been visited by a contractor to see if protective equipment can be installed.