TOP STORY: Hero barman fights off armed raiders

When three masked robbers with golf clubs and a rifle bashed his mate, off-duty bar manager Graeme Andrews stepped in to defend him with the only shield he could find - a bar chair.
What was meant to be an ordinary Monday night - "enjoying a few quiets" at the Waihi Beach Hotel - was about to ignite into high drama, an armed offenders squad callout that closed one of the Western Bay's main road arteries, and Mr Andrews being hailed a hero.
Mr Andrews, 26, was enjoying his last drink of the night, waiting for night duty manager Eddie Hessey to lock the gates outside in the garden bar, when he heard yelling.
"I looked up and saw Eddie running past the window and then ... through the door. He came sliding past me on the ground after he got hit with a golf club," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Two masked men, one wearing a face mask similar to those in the Scream movies, pushed their way into the main bar, wielding golf clubs above their heads about 10.45pm.
Mr Andrews said he instinctively picked up the closest thing - a well-worn bar chair - and started yelling at the attackers to get out.
"They demanded money and said they would mess us up and that they had someone with a gun outside," Mr Andrews recounted .
"I was yelling louder than they were. I've never been so scared in my life, especially when they said they had a guy with a gun outside."
But a determined Mr Andrews pushed forward with the chair and forced the two men outside before locking the door.
It was then that he spotted a masked gunman marching one of the bar's patrons, Mark Halloway, across the garden bar lawn.
"I called emergency services and was just screaming down the phone."
Mr Andrews was able to let Mr Halloway into the bar after the intruders began hunting for car keys they had lost in the grass.
He and his two companions hid behind the bar and armed themselves with pool cues in case the masked trio tried to get back inside.
"I was really scared. I thought they would shoot a window out and come after us again," Mr Andrews said.
Moments later police arrived - but the armed men had already fled.
"I was shaking. Eddie gave me a hug. I really needed it," Mr Andrews said.
Mr Hessey said if it hadn't been for Mr Andrews, things could have ended tragically.
"He was a hero. If he didn't react the way he did, God knows what could have happened."
Mr Hessey, who has worked at the bar for the past 16 years, was yesterday finding it difficult to walk after being smashed in the back of his leg with the golf club.
Brian Comrie, who has owned the hotel for the past three years, had nothing but praise for his bar manager of two years.
"His actions are well above anything anyone could bloody expect from an employee," he said.
Mr Comrie said very little money was held at the hotel as most people paid by eftpos. Monday nights were not that busy, he said.
The robbery sparked a massive police hunt yesterday which resulted in armed offender squads beings called out from Tauranga and Hamilton just after 7am.
State Highway 2 was closed for about an hour just north of Katikati, causing traffic to back up to the Waihi Beach turnoff, as armed police searched a house in Hikurangi Rd for the offenders.
Two other Katikati houses, in Beach Rd and Robinsons Rd, were also surrounded by armed police and searched.
A Beach Rd resident, who did not wish to be named, said she was playing cards at her kitchen table with her son when masked police carrying guns walked passed the window.
"They were scary-looking so I locked all the doors and we stayed inside." She said police used a loudhailer to try to coax a person out of a house. However, he was not there.
Today Waihi police Detective Sergeant Glenn Tinsley said four Katikati men aged, between 19 and 22, had been arrested and jointly charged with aggravated robbery and presenting a firearm in the commission of an offence. They were due to appear in Hamilton District Court today.
Mr Tinsley said the men were allegedly caught after driving away from the hotel in a silver Subaru Legacy, which was spotted by a police patrol.
Police tracked the car to a Katikati address.
Mr Tinsley said a male was found and after speaking with him the armed offender squads were called in.
He said police had no option but to close the highway while they searched a house in Hikurangi Rd.
"When there is a house on the main road where we suspects guns, we have no option but to take precautions and close the road."
He thanked motorists for their patience.
About 30 armed police and uniformed staff were involved in the operation.
The experience may have been traumatic for hotel staff but they could still see the funny side.
"We knew they didn't play golf because they didn't yell 'fore' before they hit Eddie,"Mr Comrie said.