Arrest made over daytime raid of Napier CBD jewellery store, offenders from ‘out of town’ still being sought

Police patrols and an ambulance in Market St, Napier, soon after the robbery at Michael Hill Jewellers on February 3. The robbers fled in a stolen car that had been parked in this area. Photo / Doug Laing

A Hawke’s Bay teenager has been arrested in relation to the February 3 robbery of a Napier CBD jewellery store.

The teen is alleged to have been involved in a group that police say travelled to the region to carry out the brazen raid.

Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Karli Whiu, the area investigations manager for Eastern District Police, said inquiries had established that offenders from “out of town” travelled to Hawke’s Bay, where a vehicle was stolen and used in the aggravated robbery.

A stolen vehicle believed to have been used by the offenders was found in Taupō after the robbery, he said, and Hawke’s Bay police were liaising with staff in other districts in working to locate other offenders.

The 17-year-old charged with aggravated robbery was set to appear in the Youth Court in Napier on Thursday.

The raid happened soon after 3pm on February 3, when at least four masked people leapt out of a car parked at the Tennyson St entrance to Market St and burst into the Michael Hill Jeweller shop in the Napier CBD.

Armed with at least one weapon, described by witnesses as a machete, the raiders smashed open cabinets and grabbed items of jewellery, ran out of the store and fled in the car.

Police were making progress thanks to “solid detective work and help from members of the public”, Whiu said.

At the time, Hawke’s Bay Today reported images of the robbers’ departure had been captured by the phones of onlookers.

It was the second similar-styled raid in Napier in less than a week, and police were continuing to investigate the earlier incident, which happened when four people smashed through the entrance of the Z Mataruahou Service Station early on the morning of January 28.

A 15-year-old was arrested the following day and charged with aggravated robbery, which carries a maximum term of 14 years’ imprisonment.

Whiu said investigations were ongoing into the other three offenders involved.

“We are following strong lines of enquiry around their identity to hold them to account.”

Doug Laing is a reporter with Hawke’s Bay Today, based in Napier with more than 40 years in the news industry in Hawke’s Bay and a journalism career dating back more than 50 years.