Armed robbery of Napier dairy reaps cash and cigarettes

The Price Cutter dairy in Maraenui. Photo / Paul Taylor.

Armed police in Napier are searching for a man suspected of using a handgun to rob the Price Cutter store in Maraenui.

Police have cordoned off areas around Maraenui, following an incident at a dairy on Longfellow Avenue.

Police on Lister Crescent in Maraenui, Napier, after a store was robbed with a gun this morning. PHOTO / PAUL TAYLOR

"Around 1pm, police were called to a shop on Longfellow Avenue, Maraenui," a police spokeswoman said.

"A man has allegedly presented a firearm and is believed to have taken cash and cigarettes before fleeing the scene.

"There is no further information at this early stage. Police are in the area and at the scene conducting enquiries."

It is the second time inside two months that the store (Price Cutter) has been the target of an aggravated robbery. In April an offender fled with cigarettes and cash after threatening a shopkeeper with a mallet.

This incident is the latest in a spate of robberies around Hawke's Bay within the past few months.

Earlier this week, a screwdriver was used to threaten staff at a dairy in Frederick St Hastings.

On May 20, two men with a hammer stormed into the Grays Rd Convenient Store and Takeaway, one offender smashing the cabinet and the computer screen on the counter, while the other went to the cigarette cabinet.

On the same day, police were also called to a robbery at Mobil Havelock North service station in April.

Lone attendant was confronted by a man said to be brandishing a knife and forced to hand over cash.

The continued aggravated robberies at dairies in Hawke's Bay have pushed the region's tally to 39 for this year (not including today's incident).