Robbery inquiry focuses on key found in ignition

Press, 24 October 1984, Page 8

Robbery inquiry focuses on key found in ignition

PA Auckland Detectives investigating New Zealand’s biggest robbery believe that a key found in the stolen getaway van could be a vital clue to the identity of the robbers. It was left in the ignition switch of the van and may have been specially made. Two shotgun-toting robbers seized $294,529 from an Armourguard van outside a Foodtown supermarket in Birkenhead on Friday evening after forcing the three guards to lie on the ground. A third person drove the white getaway van, which had been stolen the previous night. Detective Inspector Michael Charles said last evening that the original key was inside the car firm’s premises where the van was stolen. He said the offenders had been able to buy or have made a duplicate key from a Toyota franchise-holder. He wants to hear from anyone who had sold one of the keys recently. A witness has successfully been hypnotised to jog her memory on a particular fact. Mr Charles said the woman had not been at the scene of the crime, but he declined to elaborate. Police last evening were

also searching the Auckland area for a van used by two armed men to escape after they robbed a Manurewa dairy of almost $4OO early yesterday. The pair, armed with shotguns, broke open two doors of the dairy about 2.30 a.m., awakening the owner and his family in an adjoining flat. When the owner went to alert the police, his wife and son, aged 13, were accosted by the two masked men, but were not harmed. The gunmen’s escape vehicle was spotted by the police and chased to Papakura where the van stopped and the armed men walked towards the police car. The police reversed away. The van then drove off and was lost by the police on back roads. At Hunterville, thieves got away with almost $6OOO in cash and cheques when they cut open the safe at a fastfood bar on Monday night. Almost half the stolen money was the week-end takings from the Hunterville T.A.B. agency, which was in the same premises. The burglars used oxyacetylene cutting gear stolen from a nearby workshop to cut a hole in the front of the safe. In Wellington, no lead has

been reported in the hunt for three masked men, two armed with cut-down firearms, who robbed a T.A.B. office of about $lO,OOO on Monday evening. Armourguard Security, Ltd, had reviewed its safety procedures a few weeks before the supermarket robbery, said the company’s general manager, Mr Dennis Pickup. He said that the review, made with police help, was done “in anticipation that the overseas crime trend would hit New Zealand.” He said the company’s insurance underwriters, Lloyd’s of London, had indicated approval for a reward to be offered for the arrest of the robbers and recovery of the money. Details of the reward offer, believed to be about $30,000, or 10 per cent of the robbery haul, are expected to be announced by the police today. Detectives were yesterday investigating whether there was a link between the Foodtown robbery and a $139,000 payroll snatch in almost the same spot in. 1981. The money is still missing and the offenders were never caught. The police say there are certain similarities between the two. robberies, but decline to elaborate.