Shop owner cut by intruders
A dairy owner was cut below his jaw during an apparent bungled robbery at his store in Upper Hutt.
The man, who did not want to be named, suffered the shallow cut while pushing away one of the two young would-be robbers, who was brandishing a knife and wearing a bandana.
The owner was stocking a freezer about 8pm on Monday when a male and a female entered the Trentham Food Centre.
The male, who was carrying a knife, approached the owner from behind and began yelling at him.
‘‘They waved a knife at me. He was trying to scare me,’’ the dairy owner said.
The owner was cut when he pushed the man and his accomplice as he made his way to the front door to escape.
He believed the pair were there to rob the dairy, but they were unable to get into the area behind the counter because of the shelving and displays.
The pair left empty-handed and were seen fleeing on foot toward Tararua St. They were wearing hooded jumpers and jeans.
The wife of the owner was also in the dairy but was unharmed.
Although he had been given a fright, the owner had no concerns about coming to work on Tuesday morning.
The dairy was open at 6:30am and it was business as usual, he said. Much of the morning was spent fielding phone calls and receiving visits from worried friends and family.
‘‘I’ve worked in other dairies so ... it was nothing too scary for me.’’
He and his wife had only taken ownership of the dairy about a month ago.
He thought his dairy was in a safe area with a good community behind it. Some of his regular customers had come in to check on him after the attack.
Police said they were called just before 9pm and confirmed a dairy worker had suffered minor injuries.
Anyone with information should contact the Lower Hutt Police station.