Dad blames addiction for robbery

• Published date: 26 April 2024
• Author: Craig Kapitan
• Publication title: New Zealand Herald, The (Auckland, New Zealand)

But when a workplace injury resulted in a doctor’s prescription for powerful opiate oxycodone, the now 47-year-old West Auckland resident didn’t just fall off the wagon. He plummeted back down a “rabbit hole” of meth addiction and crime that ended with a shameful rock bottom: his 2022 arrest for an armed jewellery store robbery alongside his 17-year-old son, whom he had recruited to assist with the poorly planned heist

Brown expressed his shame and regret this week as he appeared in Auckland District Court for sentencing, asking for a term of home detention similar to that given to his now 19-year-old son earlier this year.

But the father had more to account for than the son, Judge Anna Skellern said as she instead ordered a sentence of imprisonment.

“You were clearly in charge of the plan,” she told Brown, referring to his influence as a father and his son’s age.

Court documents state Brown and his son, Savahn Kake, targeted Brownsons Jewellers in Meadowbank Shopping Centre, St Johns on July 13, 2022, at a time when the centre would have been bustling with customers on their lunch break.

They pulled on balaclavas and Brown pulled an imitation double-barrelled firearm out of a bag.

He shouted and swore as he pointed the imitation firearm at the store manager’s face, while his son smashed at least four glass display cabinets with a hammer and shovelled the high-value contents into a shopping bag, according to the agreed summary of facts.

A 73-year-old bystander tried to thwart the duo’s efforts by pushing a wooden bench in front of the exit.

“Mr Brown noticed and moved closer to [the woman] and pointed the imitation firearm at her,” documents state.

“I’ll f***ing shoot you!” he told her.

The pair pushed aside the bench and ran through the shopping centre, pushing another bystander to the ground. “Stay still or I will f***ing shoot you!” Brown told other members of the public.

He pointed the gun a final time after a witness followed them out of the store, where they crossed St Johns Rd to their waiting vehicle. At that point unmasked, they turned around after dropping an item and noticed him. “I’ll shoot,” Brown said to the man about three times before they drove away.

Roughly $60,000 worth of merchandise was taken though most was dropped near the scene or recovered after the pair’s arrest. But Brown and his son caused tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to the business.

Police announced Brown’s arrest the next day.

At this week’s sentencing...