Christchurch bank held up

BY GILES BROWN

Police are responding to reports of an armed robbery in the Christchurch suburb of Riccarton.

Emergency services are on their way to the scene at the ASB Bank on the corner of Riccarton Road and Rimu Street.

Two males are believed to have fled the scene.

It is understood a knife was used in the alleged hold-up.

It is unclear whether the robbers obtained any money, however.

The attempted robbery is the latest in a string of armed hold-ups in Christchurch in recent weeks.

Last night armed robbers raided two Christchurch dairies within a kilometre of each other.

Sergeant Dean Murray, of police southern communications, said the Aladdin Dairy on the corner of Barbadoes and Armagh streets was robbed by a "couple of people in balaclavas" about 7pm.

About an hour later, The Cashel Food Market at the corner of Fitzgerald Ave and Cashel St was robbed.

Murray said it appeared the offenders were armed, but it was not clear if a firearm had been presented.

No-one was reported hurt in the raids, he said.

It is not yet known what the offenders took.

Detectives were reviewing closed-circuit television footage and interviewing witnesses last night.

A visibly shocked Cashel Food Market worker, who was behind the counter when the store was robbed, said he did not remember much, other than that two men demanded cash and cigarettes. He declined to be interviewed further.

A witness to the second robbery said she entered the dairy as the crime was unfolding.

Two men at the counter told her not to run, she said, so she walked out the door to the corner before running home down Fitzgerald Ave.

She did not notice the men had a gun and could say only that they were wearing balaclavas.

Police were already investigating a number of robberies that had taken place in Christchurch in the last three weeks.

On Friday June 18 two men robbed the Avonhead ANZ bank, taking an amount ''in the vicinity of thousands'' of dollars.  

One of the offenders was described as a male European of medium build. A witness reported seeing the two men get into a dark-coloured car.

It was unclear if the man had a weapon.

On Saturday June 26 two men robbed a New Zealand Post Shop at gunpoint..

Inspector Paul Fremaux, from Christchurch police, said two men with firearms entered the Edgeware Rd shop in the Christchurch suburb of St Albans just before 12.30pm.

The pair confronted the shop assistant, demanding money. An undisclosed sum of cash was handed over and the men then fled the scene in a blue Subaru Legacy, which had earlier been reported stolen.

The car was found a short time later, abandoned, near the corner of Packe and Cannon streets, just a short distance away from where the robbery occurred.

Later that day the owner of the Leithfield pub was tied up at gunpoint during an armed robbery at 11.30pm.

Rangiora police detective sergeant Rex Barnett said the proprieter of the hotel, on Old Main North Road, was confronted by a man in a balaclava holding a firearm.

The man tied up the proprieter with tape and demanded the keys to the safe.

He then stole an undisclosed sum of money along with cans of bourbon and cola.

Police say it is possible that the man spilt one of the cans of spirits on the money during the escape.

The offender left the hotel through a window, but police are unsure if he had a getaway car.

On June 29 staff at the St Martins Pharmacy were left traumatised by a knife-wielding robber who made off with a large quantity of morphine, police say.

Police said tonight that the male robber had pharmacy on the corner of Beckford and Wilsons Road at approximately 4.40pm and presented a knife.

The man demanded controlled drugs and made off on a push bike with a large quantity of morphine in liquid and tablet form, police said.

The robber is described as a Caucasian male, aged between 30 and 50 years, 170cm in height, slim build with skinny legs and arms, wearing a dark cycle helmet, black woollen bandana or top covering his face, light blue long sleeved top, faded blue jeans, black gloves and white sneakers.

"The stolen morphine will be destined for the black market to be sold to intravenous drug users,'' Freeman said.

- © Fairfax NZ News