Two Bay of Islands men, aged 17 and 22, have been charged with the Waitangi Day gunpoint robbery of the Awanui Superette and the attempted robbery of the Cooper's Beach Four Square store an hour earlier.
The Haruru Falls men have been charged with aggravated robbery, attempted aggravated robbery, theft of a vehicle and arson of a vehicle, while the teenager has also been charged with a burglary at Haruru Falls. Both have appeared before the District Court at Kaikohe, and remanded in custody to the same court on April 3.
The Cooper's Beach incident occurred at around 7.15am on February 6, the offenders leaving empty-handed after allegedly accosting a man who they mistakenly believed to own the store, but turned out to be a customer waiting for it to open.
The Awanui Superette was robbed at gunpoint little more than an hour later, police saying at the time that several people had been threatened with a firearm, described by witnesses as a pistol, and with violence, although no one was hurt.
The remains of a burnt-out car found at the State Highway 10 end of Church Rd, 5km east of Awanui, was linked with the offending from an early stage.
Acting Detective Sergeant Mark Dalzell, from the Kaitaia CIB, said the inquiry was not yet completed, but the outcome so far should make it clear to those with thoughts of offending in this fashion that travelling out of town to do so would not improve their chances of evading arrest.
"We worked closely with the CIBs in Kaikohe and Kerikeri, and people need to know that however far they travel they will still be caught," he said.
"I might also point out that some people take huge risks with their liberty in return for very small rewards.
"In this case, we're talking about the potential for lengthy prison terms for what turned out to be a few dollars and a few packets of smokes."