Former American reality TV personality Kate Gosselin said she was “almost knocked over” during an attempted robbery at a New World supermarket in Auckland.
Gosselin, who starred in the show Jon & Kate Plus 8, posted a video to TikTok describing the incident, and showed staff from New World Botany carrying back a trolley full of groceries.
In the video, Gosselin said her boyfriend Steve Neild and others attempted to stop the thief.
It was in this encounter she said she was nearly knocked over, which was made worse as she was recovering from a leg injury.
According to the Daily Mail, Gosselin broke her leg last year while playing with her dog, which she needed to undergo surgery for.
“The guy ran past us and lost his shoe,” she said in the video posted on Sunday. “He literally pushed past me, almost knocked me down in my lack of walking state.
“He ran past me, and I'm just now starting to walk. I had an injury, so I can just now walk, and it sent me off my feet for a second.”
She said a lot of people responded to stop the robbery from taking place.
“You should see all the Kiwi men running after him, trying to stop him. Everybody’s on their phone to the police. It’s a big deal here, because honestly, there’s not much crime here.
“In America, they would have just let him go,” she said.
“Oftentimes, [people] don't pitch in and they don't try to stop it. It's so refreshing to see. There was like six or eight of them that went flying after him," she said, adding that she even kicked away the thief’s shoe as he fled to "slow him down”.
Gosselin also praised her boyfriend, who tried to help during the chaos.
“I love that Steve turns right back into a cop on a moment’s notice,” she wrote on the video.
At the end of the TikTok, Gosselin said the alleged thief had escaped by car, but people watching had taken the licence plate to give to police, which she added was “so cool”.
A Foodstuffs North Island spokesperson told 1News the incident occurred on Friday last week.
"A person left New World Botany with a trolley of meat and other groceries without paying," the spokesperson said.
"The store team immediately contacted Botany Mall security. Senior team members followed the individual into the car park, where mall security assisted and the trolley of stolen goods was recovered.
"Incidents like this are extremely rare at New World Botany."
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