A dairy owner in Upper Hutt has shared chilling security footage of an attempted robbery, hoping it will assist police in identifying the offender. The frightening incident took place on Sunday morning, just after 10 a.m., at the Redwood Dairy. According to The New Zealand Herald, the ordeal began innocuously enough when a man entered the store asking for band-aids.

Store owner Jugvinder explained to the man that they didn’t stock band-aids. The man left, but moments later, he returned, this time wearing a mask and wielding a tyre iron. Things quickly escalated as the man tried to leap over the counter towards Jugvinder. Acting on instinct, Jugvinder grabbed a stick to defend himself and managed to chase the would-be robber out of the store.

Recounting the terrifying experience, Jugvinder’s wife, Manmeet, told The Herald, “He came back to frighten my husband, and my husband couldn’t understand why. Then the man tried to jump over the counter, so my husband stepped back and grabbed something to protect himself.”

Fortunately, Jugvinder’s quick actions thwarted the attempted robbery, and the man fled. Reflecting on the incident, Manmeet expressed her gratitude that she and their daughter weren’t at the shop that day. “It was really, really scary for me because I usually open the store on Sundays with my daughter. It could have been us,” she said.

When Jugvinder called to inform her of what had happened, Manmeet immediately rushed to the shop. She wasted no time contacting the police. “I said, ‘We need to ring the police; we can’t take this lightly.’” Officers arrived within 15 minutes, retrieved the store’s security footage, and began their investigation.

The couple later shared the security footage on Facebook, hoping someone in the community might recognize the suspect. The man’s face was clearly visible during his first visit to the store, before he donned the mask. Additionally, Manmeet revealed that the man had been driving a stolen car.

She urged anyone with information to contact the authorities immediately. “This shop is our only source of income. We work 13 hours a day to make a living,” she shared. The emotional toll was evident as she described the vulnerability of small business owners. “People who target small businesses are scumbags. They might have their reasons—a tough background or a traumatic childhood—but that doesn’t make it okay. Robbing hardworking people is awful.”

This was not the first time the Redwood Dairy had been targeted. The couple experienced another attempted robbery in 2023, making this latest incident all the more distressing. Despite the challenges, they remain hopeful that the community will help identify the offender and bring him to justice.