One man has been apprehended following the second aggravated robbery at a Palmerston North Bank in two weeks.
The first incident happened about 10.45am, on Thursday, 17 September when a man with his face covered threatened tellers of the ANZ bank on the corner of Ruahine Street and Broadway Avenue with a firearm. He left the bank with cash and is believed to have got into a stolen car with a waiting accomplice. That car was later found abandoned in the Kelvin Grove area of the city.
Around 9.40 this morning (Monday, 28 September) police received a call from a member of the public reporting that a robbery was in progress at the bank.
What is known so far is that a man went into the bank with a long-barrelled firearm and threatened a number of tellers before leaving the bank with an undisclosed sum of cash. No shots were fired and no one was injured but staff are understandably shocked.
The offender was then seen getting into a car outside the bank. Good descriptions provided by witnesses at the scene led to a police patrol spotting the vehicle a short time later in the Roslyn area of the city. The car stopped and a man was seen to run from the vehicle into an address.
Police dogs and AOS were called to the scene and a man was then located in a house on Hulme Street. He was apprehended without incident and is being questioned at Palmerston North Police Station. It is not know whether the man has any association to the address.
At one point smoke was seen coming from the address. A small fire had been started within the house which was quickly extinguished by AOS. Fire service attended the address.
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Sheridan said: "It's is too early to say whether today's robbery is linked to the one that happened earlier in the month, but it goes without saying that we will be looking at that possibility.
"Today will be very busy interviewing all the witnesses in and around the bank, and conducting examinations of the bank, the vehicle and the house.
"It is important to make mention of those members of the public who alerted us so quickly to the robbery, and who provided us with description details that proved invaluable."
Anyone with information that might assist this investigation is asked to contact Palmerston North Police on 06 351 3600 or the Crime Line on 0800 808585.
Media enquiries should be referred to Communications Manager Kim Perks on 06 351 2546 or 027 234 8256.