Security Christchurch

At 3.00am on Saturday 20 June 2009, 3 masked males armed with a pistol, knife and tyre iron, robbed staff and patrons at the Bedrock Bar situated at 291 Lincoln Road, Addington.

Just as the bar had closed the robbers confronted a patron and a two staff members outside the rear of the bar, forcing them back into the bar where another patron was waiting to go home. The patrons and staff where held in the toilet while the robbers took money, cigarettes and alcohol before locking the patrons and staff in the bottle store and running off.

The robbers ran across Lincoln road into the Addingtown car park where they have made there getaway.
‘This is a brazen robbery where the robbers who were armed have been lying in wait at the rear of the bar. It is disturbing that a firearm has been presented.’ said Detective Sergeant Scott Anderson of the Hornby Police.

‘The robbers, we have been told seemed disorganized. The robbers have spent about 20 minutes inside the bar which is quite a while for a robbery’. ‘An early indication is that between 5-10 thousand dollars was stolen but this is just an indication until a more accurate audit is done’.

The robbers are described as male Maori or Pacific Islanders aged in their late teens early twenties. They were wearing hoodies and had scarf’s covering their faces.

Hamilton Police investigating the discovery of a man’s body in a car found abandoned in the city arrested two people for murder overnight.

The dead man has been identified as Piki KINGI, a 38-year-old Hamilton man Police had been searching for since receiving reports last Friday of an alleged serious assault at a Cobham Dr address.

The Mazda car Mr KINGI’S body was found in was recovered by Police from Mansel Ave late Sunday night.

Confirming the victim’s identity, homicide inquiry head, Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Page, said Mr KINGI had suffered some serious injuries.

“And those injuries will be the subject of scrutiny during a Post-Mortem examination being carried out this morning.

“Our investigations into the Cobham Dr incident have been able to confirm the link between Mr KINGI’S death and the address and we believe this is the place where he was murdered.”

Mr Page said that link was established via a detailed scene examination which is still continuing.

“Detectives investigating these matters arrested a 48-year-old Hamilton man and a 45-year-old Hamilton woman overnight and charged them with murder.

“The pair will be appearing in the Hamilton District Court this morning, as yet their identities have not been released.”

Mr Page said the arrests came about through a combination of sound Police work and assistance from the public, assistance which he hoped would continue.

“The investigation into Mr KINGI’S murder continues and we expect to make further arrests,” said Mr Page.

Hamilton Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who tried to rob a City late yesterday afternoon.

And they are warning people to play it safe if confronted by a robber, not take steps that may aggravate the situation.

Detective Mark Watt of the Hamilton CIB said a man walked into the Mitcham Ave dairy about 5pm but left when he realised the number of people in the store.

“He’s returned about 5.30pm, walked up to the counter and presented a pistol at the shop attendant demanding money.

“The attendant has immediately ducked down behind the counter and the shop owner, who happened to be standing by a fridge at the end of the counter, has thrown a bottle of water at the offender which was sufficient to scare the man off.”

It was this action that has Police concerned with Mr Watt warning that the best action to take when confronted with an armed attacker is to comply with their demands.

“Obviously Police sympathise with the frustrations of small business owners but in this situation what would have happened if the bottle had hit the robber’s hand and the gun then gone off with what could have been tragic circumstances?

“We advise people that the safest course of action is to avoid heroics, do as the robber demands and phone 111 as soon as possible, money can be replaced but lives can’t.”

The offender has then fled down the hill on foot where Police believe he may have then run through adjacent netball courts to make his escape.

“The offender is described as a male Maori or Pacific Islander wearing and dark blue and light coloured beanie, dark sunglasses, a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans.

“The distinctive design on his hoodie was repeated on the back though the design was larger and we’re hoping someone may recognise it in the photograph and get hold of us,” said Mr Watt.

Waikato Police are investigating links between an assault that took place at a Hamilton home earlier in the week and the disappearance of a City man.

Inquiry head, Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Page, of the Hamilton CIB said Police went to a Cobham Dr address on Friday after receiving information something was amiss.

“Subsequently a forensic examination of the property was completed which led us to believe a serious assault took place at the address.

“Our staff are still speaking to the occupants in an effort to establish what occurred and parallel to this investigators are endeavouring to locate a local man, Piki KINGI.”

Mr Page said the 38-year-old Maori male hadn’t been seen since the middle of last week. He is described as being of medium build, 190cm tall with shoulder length black hair.

“He was last seen about 11am on Wednesday 10 June at the Caltex service station in Hillcrest where he refuelled a burgundy 1992 Mazda MS6 liftback, registration number ACC958.

“We believe locating this car may hold the key to finding Mr KINGI and we want to hear from anyone who may have seen this vehicle.”

Mr Page stressed the investigation was still in its infancy and it was still too early to draw any conclusions regarding what had happened.

“At this stage we’re keeping an open mind into if the two incidents are linked and clarifying this issue is a major focus of the investigation team’s work.

“Forensic investigators are working with Police to establish if there are indeed any links however it would be fair to say that as time goes on our concerns for Mr KINGI’S wellbeing grow.”