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A local Mount Maunganui cycle shop owner’s heroic intervention has led to six stitches, a broken nose and concussion. And two arrests.

In a display of remarkable courage and selflessness, Cycle Obsession’s Kris Snow came to the aid of a beleaguered bakery proprietor during a shocking incident of shoplifting at Central Parade.

Kris intervened to stop the thief, only to be met with a violent assault that left him with six stitches and a broken nose.

“There was no warning shot, it was straight to punch my head off,” says Kris.

He had heard some screaming and shouting coming from the Parade Bakery & Cafe next door.

“When I came over, I was holding on to the other end of the bike that they were holding onto, to stop them getting away.

“I said over and over again to pay for what you’ve taken. He said ‘it wasn’t me’. I said “mate this doesn’t need to turn into anything, you just need to pay the bill”. I was trying to keep it calm and diffuse the situation.

“I didn’t take a swing or say anything nasty to them.”

Cycle Obsession and Parade Bakery & Cafe in Maunganui Road. Photo: Supplied.

Kris says a second member of what turned out to be a group of four youth with bikes came over.

“I thought ‘this wasn’t ideal’,” says Kris.

“Then the third one came along, he was a bit bigger. The next thing I got a fist to the face and I didn’t see it coming.”

He says that a member of the public was filming the incident.

“They told me they heard the guy say ‘scrap’s on!’ to the other two before he leaned in and hooked me.”

Kris says after the guy ran in and hit him he then threatened to hit one of Kris’s staff members - Johnny - who stepped up to help him.

“I think he realised he’d hurt me when he saw the blood. The other one started flailing but didn’t hit anyone.”

Kris says the four youth were on bikes, and took off after he was punched.

“Johnny ran and got a bike and took off after them.”

Kris Snow, owner of Cycle Obsession, after the assault outside his shop at Mount Maunganui. Photo: Supplied.

Later he learned that the bike he’d been trying to hold onto was in fact also stolen.

“Johnny trailed them all the way down to Moa Park and says they were in there changing hats and tee shirts to try and confuse police. They were hiding in the trees.

“Johnny says they were shouting at him. He stayed on the phone to police who eventually caught up with them at Valley Road.”

Kris says of the four youth, “only three were involved, and only two involved in the assault.  And one in the shoplifting”.

Kris sought medical help and three days later is still feeling nauseous.

“He broke my nose, I got six stitches and concussion. I’ve felt like throwing up the last few days from concussion.”

Police received a report relating to a shoplifting incident followed by an assault at Central Parade on Wednesday, October 18.

“Police were called at 11.45am on 18 October,” says a police spokesperson.

“A 17-year-old has been charged with assault and a 15-year-old has been charged with assault and shoplifting.”

Police say the pair are scheduled to appear in Tauranga Youth Court on October 24.

Kris Snow, owner of Cycle Obsession, following receiving stitches after his nose was broken during an assault outside his shop at Mount Maunganui. He still has concussion. Photo: Supplied.

Prior to the assault, Kris had been looking forward to competing in the Whaka100 this weekend.

“I was meant to be racing on Saturday morning. Obviously, I won’t be riding a bike for a while with this concussion,” says Kris.

His shop, Cycle Obsession, has been a bike store for other 50 years.

“It was called Bike and Pack – it used to do camping equipment and bikes. Before that it was called Bike and Mower,” says Kris, who is ‘Mount born and raised’.

“I’m 44, and have been here since I was a teenager at school.”

He eventually bought the shop off the previous owners back in 2004.

“I have worked here since working as an after-school job back in the late 1990s.”

Back then he lived around the corner, and he still lives around the corner, having built on his parent’s property, the same property that he grew up on.

“When I bought it, I changed the name to Cycle Obsession a few years later.”

Owning the shop has been part of a natural progression for getting into bike racing. Kris used to race for NZ doing cross country mountain biking, and was the under 23-year-old national champ.

“I do all kinds of riding. My family race mountain bikes these days.”

His wife Tracy and children are fully into the mountain bike experience.

“Tracy is racing the Whaka100 race on Sunday. It’s her first time doing the 100 kilometre mountain bike event.

“My 11-year-old, Mayson, is racing the Whaka25 on Sunday.”

It will be Mayson’s second time at the Whaka25, having raced it last year when he was 10.

“I was meant to be doing the 50 today and the 25 tomorrow with Mayson, but he’ll have to race it by himself now that I have concussion.

“He’s getting right into it, he’ll be faster than me before you know it.”
Kris says he was very lucky that his staff member Johnny was there when the punch landed.

“And really lucky that Johnny thought to go back and get a bike and chase after those kids. They rode off with the bike which was apparently stolen. All four of them were on bikes.”

He says his neighbours at the bakery are “quite traumatised” following the assault incident.

“They start work at 5.30am in the morning and one of them was telling me how people drive up, grab food and drive away. They are the hardest working people we’ve ever met.

“This happens to them all the time, people walk in and grab food. They are really traumatised that I got injured over something happening to them.”

Kris says it’s important that people are more aware that “this sort of thing is out there”.

“It’s something we see in the news all the time. You don’t think it’s ever going to be you.

“How sad it is that these people are out there think it’s okay to attack members of the public for no reason.

Kris’s act of bravery has raised questions about the increasing challenges faced by small business owners in Tauranga.

“He might be considered a child but he doesn’t punch like a child, he punches like an adult. It disturbs me that they think they can knock someone out.

“I have a business and have staff that rely on my business for their families, not to mention our own family.”

He believes there needs to be a stronger punishment for anyone, including a young person, who unlawfully assaults another person.

“The Coward Punch law in Australia – that should apply for this, he should not be walking the streets.”