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.<\/p>\n
Honey by Wrights owner Michael Wright, whose Ettrick-based honey stall has been the target of previous thefts, said Wednesday night\u2019s plunder was \u2018\u2018definitely the worst one\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018We are just a small family business trying to make a living, it does impact their livelihood,\u2019\u2019 Mr Wright said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018This guy\u2019s going to take this honey and sell it for probably five bucks a pottle for a fraction of what it\u2019s worth. It\u2019s just a pain in the arse, to be honest.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
He estimated 100kg worth of honey was taken.<\/p>\n
The \u2018\u2018major theft\u2019\u2019 was captured on CCTV footage shared with the\u00a0Otago Daily Times\u00a0by Mr Wright \u2014 who took the time to add his own personal touches first.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A running tally in the top left corner values the theft at $1650, as the \u2018\u2018Yakety Sax\u2019\u2019 theme from\u00a0The Benny Hill Show\u00a0plays in the background.<\/p>\n
Various emojis also adorn the footage.<\/p>\n
Mr Wright said the thief came well-prepared.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018He waited until it was dark.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018He just went in there, spent two minutes, did it as fast as he could, and gone.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He did not want to have to shut the stall and have it only open for certain hours.<\/p>\n
His partner had called-in to check on the stall before realising the honey was gone.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018She checked the video cameras and found that he\u2019d been there about 8 minutes before her.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The latest honey season had already been wrought by cold weather, Mr Wright said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I think most beekeepers have had a bad honey season, so when you get people stealing honey it doesn\u2019t really help.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n