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Digger destroys Wairarapa cafe while trying to rob ATM

Pabio November 16, 2024

The aftermath of a digger attack on Kitchener’s Cafe in Martinborough, Wairarapa.
Photo: Charlotte Cook / RNZ

A digger was used to break into a Wairarapa cafe in an attempt to break into an ATM.

Police were called to Kitchener’s Café, on Kitchener Street, Martinborough, around 11.40pm on Friday.

Building owner Bruce Sullivan told RNZ all the nearby bars were full when it happened.

“This guy had stolen this loader from a business about a mile away and came this way.

“And then when he got 50 meters from where the truck was, he drove straight into the building and then tried to use the charger to grab the vending machine and take it away… he didn’t didn’t go in, but I broke it.”

Bruce Sullivan.
Photo: Charlotte Cook / RNZ

Sullivan said the bar’s owners brought everyone inside, fearing the excavator driver “was just going to destroy the buildings.”

“They didn’t realize he was trying to steal the vending machine.”

The suspect then “jumped out of the backhoe and ran down the road,” Sullivan said.

“He was wearing a balaclava. No one came forward and said ‘we know who that is’… I would be upset if it was a local.”

Sullivan said the building’s facade was badly damaged.

“Gutted, you know? My daughters just took over the business a few months ago now…coming at the busiest time of the year…there would be at least a month or two to rectify that. So it’s just a time out, you know? Girls trying to make a living, someone doing that, it’s really heartbreaking, you know?

“It’s hard enough to make money without it, you know, but we’ve got a good community here. The boys, a good number of guys, the professionals all put their hands up and said we would lend a hand. We’re going to have to tear this room down today because it’s too unstable… It’s too broken.”