$10,000 taken in armed hold-up

Press, 21 January 1984, Page 1

$10,000 taken in armed hold-up

PA Wellington Two men, one armed with a pistol, bound and gagged two young female tellers and escaped with more than $lO,OOO in cash from the Karori branch of the Rational Bank in Wellington yesterday afternoon. Patricia Lane and Cindy Tasker, both aged 21, were alone in the bank and preparing to close for the day when the two men entered at 3 p.m., said Detective Senior-Sergeant Martin Sears, of the Wellington C. 1.8., last evening. One of the offenders pointed an old-style, rustycoloured pistol about 20cm in length at the women, who were then tied to chairs and bound about the mouth with electrical tape. Mr Sears said that the men took more than $lO,OOO in notes in denominations up to $2O from the safe, which was unlocked as the women were preparing to cash up for the day. The men then left the bank, carrying the money in a brown canvas sports bag. The two tellers took several minutes to free themselves before getting in touch with the police. The police had virtually nothing to go on apart from the description of the offenders obtained from the women, said Detective Senior-Sergeant Sears. However, last evening the film from the bank’s security camera, which one of the tellers activated, was being processed at the National Film Unit in Lower Hutt.

The money in the safe was normally picked up by a bank security van just after 3 p.m.