A balaclava-clad thief who allegedly pilfered 100kg worth of honey from a Central Otago stall was minutes away from being caught red-handed, the victim says.
Honey by Wrights owner Michael Wright, whose Ettrick-based honey stall has been the target of previous thefts, said Wednesday night’s plunder was ‘‘definitely the worst one’’.
‘‘We are just a small family business trying to make a living, it does impact their livelihood,’’ Mr Wright said.
‘‘This guy’s going to take this honey and sell it for probably five bucks a pottle for a fraction of what it’s worth. It’s just a pain in the arse, to be honest.’’
He estimated 100kg worth of honey was taken.
The ‘‘major theft’’ was captured on CCTV footage shared with the Otago Daily Times by Mr Wright — who took the time to add his own personal touches first.
It showed the alleged thief, donned in all black and wearing a balaclava and gloves, ferrying buckets of honey back and forth to a vehicle parked nearby before driving off.
A running tally in the top left corner values the theft at $1650, as the ‘‘Yakety Sax’’ theme from The Benny Hill Show plays in the background.
Various emojis also adorn the footage.
Mr Wright said the thief came well-prepared.
‘‘He waited until it was dark.
‘‘He just went in there, spent two minutes, did it as fast as he could, and gone.’’
The unmanned honey stall was open 24/7 and operated on an honesty system, with customers able to pay with cash or use an eftpos machine themselves, he said.
He did not want to have to shut the stall and have it only open for certain hours.
His partner had called-in to check on the stall before realising the honey was gone.
‘‘She checked the video cameras and found that he’d been there about 8 minutes before her.’’
The latest honey season had already been wrought by cold weather, Mr Wright said.
‘‘I think most beekeepers have had a bad honey season, so when you get people stealing honey it doesn’t really help.’’
A police spokesman confirmed they received a report of theft from a commercial property in Roxburgh Ettrick Rd (State Highway 8), which was being assessed to determine further investigative steps.