An Indian-origin woman was an eyewitness to a robbery at a jewellery store in New Zealand's Auckland city on Tuesday.
Karishma Govind, a manager at an outlet in Sylvia Park mall where the jewellery store is located, witnessed the robber smash the display case with a hammer, taking around NZ$40,000 (about $29,000) worth of jewellery, stuff.com reported.
"A guy went in with a cap on and glasses. He was looking at the jewellery for a while, then he took out a hammer and broke the glass. He smashed one cabinet and just started taking the stuff." she said.
Responding to pleas for help from the jewellery store workers, an employee of a nearby Vodafone outlet attempted to stop the robber, however the robber struck the man on his head with the hammer.
"There was a lot of blood from him but he wasn't unconscious... He got taken to the chemist, he was bleeding quite a lot,” Govind said.
The Vodafone employee received dozens of stitches but suffers from no long term damage.
The alleged thief was caught by a group of construction workers outside the mall, and held until the arrival of the police.
"After he was hit, the injured man desisted and others took over the chase resulting in up to six people detaining the accused until police arrived a few minutes later," a police official said.
The alleged offender, a 22-year-old man, is scheduled to appear in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday, charged with aggravated wounding and shoplifting.
