Arrest after bank robbery

Press, 10 August 1982, Page 6

Arrest after bank robbery

PA ' Auckland A high-speed chase across Auckland last evening ended in a Parnell street as the police followed two men wanted in connection with a $4OOO bank robbery earlier in the day. A large contingent of police threw a cordon . the Auckland Station railway' yards after two men abandoned a station waggon and ran off. The men attempted to hide under a railway carriage, but one was latbr caught nearby. The other ran to the Downtown bus terminal, where he boarded a bus for south Auckland. Late last evening the police were still searching for the second man. The chase, in the course of which the vehicle being pursued is thought to have made two U-turns on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, covered more than 60km. Detective Inspector Peter Ward, of the Newmarket C. 1.8.. said the station waggon involved in the chase had been bought from a car dealer that afternoon. The chase started after a police unit followed a vehicle

away from a motel tn Mt Albert. Mr Ward said the police had staked out the motel in the afternoon after the getaway car used in a bank raid at Royal Oak had been found. The boot of the white car had been painted black, and black stripes had been sprayed down the sides of the vehicle. The paint was still wet. A gas-operated'slug pistol was recovered from the vehicle. Earlier, about 10.30 a.m.. a man wearing a white wig had walked into the Royal Oak branch of the Auckland Savings Bank, pointed a pistol at a young female teller, and demanded monev. The robber stuffed $4OOO in banknotes into a bag and left the bank. He was chased by a male teller as he ran to a parked car. No shots were fired during the raid and neither of the tellers was hurt. The police last evening charged a man. aged 21. with aggravated robbery. He will appear in the District Court at Auckland tomorrow.