Bank staff oblivious of $106,000 armed hold-up

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33534, 15 May 1974, Page 1

Bank staff oblivious of $106,000 armed hold-up

(New Zealand Press Association

AUCKLAND. May 14.

“This is a stick-up. Pile the money into the bag,” said an armed man in a Queen Street bank this morning, and soon afterwards he fled with about $106,000, New Zealand’s biggest bank-robbery haul.

Three young women employees went about their work without realising that the robbery’ was taking place.

Only after the man had gone, with a briefcase full of money, did they realise that he was not a customer. The incident, in the Town Hall branch of the Bank of New Zealand, lasted only a minute or two.

A teller, Gary Rogers, aged 23, of Manurewa, filled the briefcase with bundles of $2O and $lO notes — in rubber-band bound lots of $2OOO and $lOOO — after being threatened with the pistol. Nearly thwarted The robbery was nearly thwarted by a Miss Thompson, aged 17, one of the three young women working in the bank at the time. While Mr Rogers was out of sight filling up the bag, she approached the "customer” and asked if she could help. The robber, his back to the

young clerk, did not reply. The tension was eased when Mr Roger’s head rose from behind the counter.

Miss Thompson then realised that the “customer” was being attended to, and returned to her work at the back of the bank. Mr Rogers was counting change when the robber slipped unnoticed through the Queen Street entrance at 9.33 a.m.

The bank was open only for special customers, and there were no tellers behind the other counters. The three women were working at the back of the bank, about 40ft away. Pistol in hand The man dropped a brown briefcase on to the counter of Mr Rogers’s cubicle and, while pushing out a pistol he held in his left hand, told Mr Rogers: “This is a stick-up. Pile the money into the bag.” For a second or two Mr Rogers stared spellbound down the barrel of the weapon. “If you try to do anything

before I leave I will let you have it,” said the gunman. Mr Rogers said later: "He was pointing the pistol at me. His hand seemed to be shaking.

"I picked up the briefcase and placed it on the floor behind the counter, and began filling it with bundles of notes.” Weapon concealed While he was doing this Miss Thompson looked up from her work and saw the gunman leaning on the counter. The weapon was concealed.

Mr Rogers did not appear to be at his counter, so she moved towards what she thought to be a prospective customer.

“I asked him if he was waiting,” Miss Thompson told detectives. "The man didn’t answer and didn’t turn round. Then Gary stood up. “He said he was doing wages. I walked back to my desk and sat down.”

Mr Rogers then pulled up the brief-case and passed it

to the gunman. When he had the money in his hands he walked briskly to the entrance and turned right into Queen Street. He was quickly lost among a Queen Street crowd swelled by children on holiday.

Mr Rogers told the police that he did not want Miss Thompson to become involved in the incident. He told her he was giving out wages in the hope that she would return to her work.

Mr Rogers ran to the door of the bank, but he could not spot the robber in the crowd. He then ran upstairs to tell the bank manager, and the police were called.

The central city area was soon swarming with detectives, but the robber apparently eluded the cordon set up around the city area. Description issued The officer leading the police inquiry. Detective Inspector B. W. James, later released a description of the man they were seeking. He is a European, aged about 25 or 26, of stockv build, about sft 9in tall, with straight, light-brown shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a blue shirt, blue trousers, and a tie. On his right hand was a signet ring engraved with the letter, “L.” He has a tattoo of a dagger, entwined with a snake, on his right forearm Late tonight, a squad of 25 detectives was investigating the robbery. About 117 I people had been interviewed. Special service The branch manager (Mr P. Knell) said that the bank was opened to the public at 10 a.m., but offered a special service to customers such as Government departments and local bodies "for a considerable time before that." Mr Knell said a front "swing” door w r as unlocked, and the robber walked through it to the counter. The door was not always unlocked before 10 a.m. when the special service was being provided. Often it was locked and opened by a bank employee only when a special customer called.

“Perfect time” The robber seemed to have picked the right time perfectly, said Mr Knell. “There was only one teller there,” he said. "Quite often at that time there are four tellers working. “Other staff were upstairs taking morning tea or doing other work. It certainly does seem to have been well planned." Today’s $106,000 haul was believed to have been on hand at the bank for the payment of wages.