Bag Snatch in Hamilton, Woman Assaulted

It's been a while since we've reported on a bag snatch but we got to hear of a particularly nasty incident yesterday in Hamilton at the Te Rapa car park at around 12.40 in the afternoon.

An Asian woman was beaten to the ground and her bag stolen by a gang of 4 thugs. A store manager followed them and they were later rounded-up by police at a KFC restaurant.

The four men were said to be aged between 17-21 years old.

Last year there were some really violent assaults on women who were also robbed of their handbags - this type of crime was so frequent it was getting to epidemic proportions. Asian women are often the target as they are perceived as being more affluent and easy to overcome.

In one assault the victim was dragged along behind her attackers' car and in another young mother  Joanne Wang was killed in front of her son in the Manukau Westfield shopping centre.

A police pursuit of an alleged bag thief on an Auckland motorway in January ended with armed police shooting dead an innocent motorist who was caught in crossfire, but no officers were prosecuted after the incident.

See other blog posts here: Handbag snatches

More Auckland Bag Snatches: Police get one man but lose the other

Source: NZ Herald

"A man has been arrested in downtown Auckland after a bag-snatching incident.

Police swooped onto the lower Queen St, Viaduct Harbour areas after sightings of two men linked with an alleged bag-snatching on the North Shore this morning.

A police spokesman said one of the men was arrested near the boat terminal on Quay St without incident. Police are still seeking the other man."

Comment:

Muggings of women/handbag thefts is an increasingly serious and widespread problem in Auckland, where a number of incidents have resulted in a death and serious injuries to both victims and innocent bystanders. See blog link: Handbag snatches

Another Handbag Theft - Woman Dragged 130 Metres Behind Car

In yet another mugging in Auckland a woman has been dragged 130 metres by a car as she tried to cling onto her handbag.

This is just the latest in a very long string of similar attacks on women in the
Auckland region. They have continued unabated despite a large scale round up of offenders by police in September . See blog entry.

Last month an innocent bystander was shot dead by police, and another injured on an Auckland motorway, following a mass vehicular pursuit of a handbag snatcher that involved 20 police cars and caused severe distruption to the region's traffic system. Blog link

In June 2008 Joanne Wang was killed in front of her young son in an almost identical attack at the Manukau Westfield shopping centre.

This report on today's most recent incident is take from Stuff.co.nz

(N.B. The Tident Tavern is in Onehunga, not Panmure)

"The 45-year-old was walking through the Trident Tavern car park in Panmure about 4.40pm when an occupant of a vehicle grabbed her handbag, said Detective Sergeant Mark Cullimore of Auckland Central CIB.

She was dragged about 130m by the car as the two wrestled for the bag.

The woman suffered severe grazing and bruising to her legs and arms and was quite shaken by the attack, Mr Cullimore said.

She was taken to an Accident and Emergency Centre for treatment.

There was only a vague description of her attacker, who was described as having dark skin and being in a dark coloured car, he said.

Police were keen to hear from any witnesses to the incident."

Bystander Shot On Motorway Following Handbag Theft

(from a lost post by Luthien)

Source: NZ Herald
A vehicle was stolen in West Auckland earlier today and used in a handbag snatch that went fatally wrong.

Following a high speed pursuit on Auckland's North Western Motorway involving the Armed
Offenders Squad a member of the public was was shot dead and another injured. At this time it is not known who fired the fatal shot.

20 police vehicles and a helicopter were involved in the chase which started at 1pm following a handbag theft in Titirangi.

A man has been arrested and a sawn off .22 rifle was found at the scene.

Back in Sept 2008 this blog highlighted the problem of bag snatches in the Auckland area. Link - Bag snatchers targeting women again

The Waitemata police carried out a series of raids on the homes of an Auckland-wide gang that was stealing handbags from the front seats of cars while women loaded their groceries into the boot.

At the time 9 men were arrested but police admitted that it hadn't stopped thieves from stealing women's bags and the spate of thefts continued in the New Lynn Area (close to Titirangi) all of which involved the use of stolen cars to make a getaway.

Woman killed in robbery June 2008

In June of last year 39 year old Joanne Wang (right) was killed when she was run down down in the street after her handbag was snatched at the Manukau Westfield shopping centre, her 8 year old son was with her and was traumatised after witnessing the appalling incident. News link

47 Bag Snatches over the Christmas period

Then in December police released released video footage of another dramatic handbag theft in South Auckland, showing a woman being dragged along the ground by her attacker. Over the Christmas period there were 47 bag snatches in the area. Link TVNZ

Police have said that it's becoming a big problem in the area and the criminals are targeting Asians.

These incidents suggest that the rule of law is failing in Auckland and the problem is beyond the the control of the police. It belies the commonly held perception that New Zealand safe place in which to live.

Bag Snatcher Targetting Women Again

(From a lost post by Luthien)

Source: NZ Herald, 9 Sept 2008

"The bust of a major handbag-snatching ring has not stopped thieves from stealing women's bags in supermarket carparks.

Waitemata police recently carried out a series of raids on the homes of men involved in an Auckland-wide gang that was stealing handbags from the front seats of cars while women loaded their groceries into the boot.

The raids, which involved 30 officers and the execution of 15 search warrants, resulted in nine men being arrested and charged.

Detective Senior Sergeant Stan Brown said the arrests had not put an end to region-wide handbag snatching. At least five more cases had occurred in the past week. One of those was believed to be a copycat crime and the thief has since been arrested. Police are still hunting those behind the other snatchings.Mr Brown said it was too early to say if they were carried out by associates of the original gang or whether other copycats were now at work.
The latest spate of snatchings started in New Lynn last Tuesday but the woman who was loading her groceries had locked her door, meaning the thieves were unable to get to her handbag. Undeterred, they tried again half an hour later at Westgate, where they stole a woman's bag. At 6.30pm they successfully struck again in Otara.
Mr Brown said in all three cases the thieves used stolen cars to make their getaway.
Yesterday, another handbag was stolen from a carpark behind the mall in Henderson.
Mr Brown said it was important people did everything they could to deter thieves, including keeping their handbags with them at all times and making sure car doors were locked. While many of the earlier victims were Asian, Mr Brown said thieves were now indiscriminate in who they targeted.

Police staff involved in last month's handbag raids have recovered dozens of stolen items, which they would like to return to the owners."

Retrieved possessions may be viewed HERE