It’s one of those things you never want to wake up to—a phone call from your security company in the middle of the night. Michael Rowland-Jones, the co-owner of Brigittes Sumner, got exactly that kind of notification recently when his restaurant alarm started blaring. When he checked the security footage, he saw a Toyota Yaris pull up. The people inside had T-shirts wrapped around their heads like makeshift masks, which felt a bit eerie to watch, I imagine. They tried to yank the front door handle right off the frame before resorting to smashing a glass pane just to get inside.
They didn’t find much. They grabbed the cash register, but the team here doesn’t actually keep any money on the premises overnight, so that was a total waste of their time. They did manage to swipe three bottles of alcohol, though. On their way out, they knocked over a big glass container of mints—I can almost picture the sound of glass shattering against the floorboards.
Rowland-Jones estimated the damage will set them back about $1,000 to fix. It’s not exactly catastrophic, but it’s just one of those massive inconveniences that business owners shouldn’t have to deal with, really. He told Misryoum he decided not to release the footage publicly, but he’s already been in touch with the police. This is the first time they’ve been targeted since they opened on the esplanade last July, back when they took over from the old Sumner Social spot.
Police Acting Sergeant Paddy Sullivan mentioned they are looking into whether these same people were responsible for other break-ins around Christchurch between Sunday and Monday. Rowland-Jones mentioned the cops said some of those other incidents apparently happened over in Riccarton.
“It’s always concerning knowing people were breaking into your business,” Rowland-Jones said. At the end of the day, he’s just grateful that no staff or customers were caught in the middle of it. It’s what you might call a victimless crime, I suppose, if you ignore the bill for the repairs.
If anyone saw something odd or knows anything about this, the police want to hear from you. Just call 105 and use the reference number 260406/9044 to help the investigation move along. Or maybe they already have enough to go on, who knows. It’s a frustrating situation for everyone involved, especially for Rowland-Jones and his business partner, Jeremy Stevens, who also run the Merivale location.