Thieves use sledgehammer on window

Ocean Shores Surf was robbed last week resulting in a bill of $10,000 for damage and lost stock for the store’s shaken owners.

Matt Meir

THIEVES used a sledgehammer to smash the front window of the Ocean Shores Surf shop in a brazen robbery last Thursday night.

Owner Jocelyn Albert was woken early on Friday morning by a call from police after three thieves ransacked her store.

“We got the call about midnight. We had to come in, board up the window and open the shop and see what damage was done,” Mrs Albert said.

In just two minutes, the bandits left Mrs Albert with a $10,000 bill for lost stock and damage to the shop.

Security cameras inside the store captured Thursday night’s attack.

At 11.27pm the cameras recorded a vehicle pulling up outside Ocean Shores Surf, located at the Ocean Village shopping centre.

The criminals used a sledgehammer to smash the right front window of the store, before using it again to bust through the locked cage separating the window display from the rest of the shop.

The thieves then set about lifting entire racks of clothes from the shelves.

They made off with about 30 pairs of jeans, more than 20 pairs of ladies’ board shorts, as well as men’s shorts and T-shirts.

By 11.29pm it was over, the robbers fleeing from the scene in their vehicle.

While the attack was over in just two minutes, it took much longer for Mrs Albert to clean up.

“We picked up a lot early Friday morning,” she said.

“The store was just a mess. There was glass everywhere.”

The robbery stopped the store from opening on Friday, however after a giant clean-up Mrs Albert’s husband Barry manned the store on Saturday so they could continue to trade.

Mrs Albert spent her first day back at work yesterday, though the robbery left her shaken.

“The store is replaceable. It’s the sense of security that takes a long time to build,” she said.

Police found the sledgehammer used in the attack on the floor among the debris on the floor. One of the thieves also left bloodstains on the shop-front, near the smashed right window.

Mrs Albert said police took a sample of the blood on Thursday night, and would look to match it with their records.