NT Police are searching for five youths who allegedly broke into the Fannie Bay IGA Friday morning and made off with booze and cigarettes, just days after four brawlers outside the shop were issued with summary offences for public fighting and released.
Police said they responded to the latest incident at the shop around 4am Friday after a public tipoff prompted police to the group of youths forcing entry to the store.
NT Police Superintendent James O’Brien said the youths stole various items including alcohol and cigarettes.
“The entire incident was captured on CCTV and detectives from Strike Force Trident are in the process of identifying the individuals involved and undertaking further investigations,” he said.
Watch Commander Dave Allen meanwhile said Fannie Bay Super Market IGA is “getting a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons”.
Friday’s grog robbery follows Tuesday’s daylight brawl and alleged stabbing outside the store. Both incidents were captured on CCTV.
Cdr Allen said they are investigating the incidents separately as there was no indication that both are related.
However, the NT Independent understands that the four people arrested in relation to the melee on Tuesday were only charged with summary offences, meaning they were not required to attend court and were released back into the community.
They were not charged with more serious offences such as going armed in public or armed with a weapon, which would have meant possible jail time.
In the latest incident, In the CCTV footage released by Fannie Bay Super Market IGA on its Facebook page shows one youth kicking the store’s door, later throwing a brick to smash the lower part of the door to gain entry.
Another youth pummelled the glass door with the brick and kicked it for around three minutes.
As they broke into the store, they rummaged through the shelves and damaged the alcohol fridge, running off with multiple cases of booze.
While appreciative of the police’s response to the break-in, the owners of the shop said Darwin “is in need of some serious help, urgently”.
“What’s the point of working hard? It’s the same old kids, doing the same old sh*t! If you know you can get away with something, why wouldn’t you do it,” the Facebook post said.
“We cannot install roller doors because if there is fire when they break in, they won’t be able to get out of that exit according to the government regulation. Let that sink in.”
Extracted from NT Independent
