Carving knife robbery in dairy foiled
A Hamilton dairy worker fought back against a robber armed with a carving knife before tossing him out the door.
Even the would-be robber’s attempt to escape the scene was foiled thanks to the ‘‘excellent work’’ of a passerby who decided to tail the fleeing pair.
Two men, aged 22 and 17, are now facing charges over the early morning attempted robbery of the dairy on River Rd.
Just before 7am yesterday one of two men entered the store armed with a large bladed carving knife, Detective Andrew Hawke of Waikato CIB said.
He wore a puffer jacket, hoodie and had his face covered.
Inside the perpetrator threatened the worker and a fight broke out.
‘‘The young man in the shop has fought him off and thrown him out of the store.’’
Hawke said the worker suffered a cut to his hand. The knife was found inside the store.
‘‘It was really lucky there wasn’t any severe injuries and nothing was stolen.’’
After being evicted from the store the perpetrator returned and smashed the front glass door with his fists before fleeing to a waiting car, Hawke said.
At the same time a member of the public saw what was happening and decided to follow the fleeing vehicle.
He called police, relaying the car’s movements as he tracked them from Fairfield Bridge to Enderley where police arrived.
A short pursuit began but ended abruptly when the offenders abandoned the car and took off on foot, Waikato police Senior Sergeant Simon Cherry said.
Thanks to the speedy legwork of a couple of ‘‘young officers’’ the duo were run to ground and arrested on Blake St, he said.
Both men were recidivist offenders and were to appear in Hamilton District Court yesterday.
Police thanked the motorist for his ‘‘excellent efforts’’ in helping nab the pair.
‘‘Without that member of the public we would have been lucky to find them so quickly.’’