Hammer robbery stuns victim

Police are still looking for the two men who allegedly held up the Greenmeadows Four Square with a hammer at about 3.30pm.

A young woman was left shaken but soldiered on to finish her shift after being robbed at hammer point yesterday afternoon.

Police are still looking for the two men who allegedly held up the Greenmeadows Four Square with a hammer at about 3.30pm.

Detective Sergeant Daryl Moore said the two men entered the shop wearing hoodies, and with bandanas covering their faces.

He said one them was armed with a hammer, and had threatened the female assistant with it.

The men then gained access to the till, stealing cash and also some cigarettes before fleeing the store along Guppy Rd.

Mr Moore said at this stage they were not aware of how much had been taken from the store.

It had been store owner Jaimin Patel's wife who had been threatened by the offenders.

"I had just gone home for lunch at that time, and a nap," he said. "When I heard what happened I got up and ran to the shop."

His wife had been shocked after the incident, Mr Patel said, but had decided to continue working until the end of her shift.

Mr Patel said they had closed the store for a couple of hours while police investigated the scene, and he had watched the CCTV footage of the incident.

He said his wife had done well, as she hadn't reacted much to the men.

"She just did what they said, which was good." The owner said he was shocked the incident had happened at such a busy time of the day.

"We're on a main street, it's quite a busy road, and it was after school", he said, "Just five minutes before we had four or five customers in the store."

The store had a good security system, which meant Mr Patel's wife was able to press a panic button which alerted her husband and he was able to call police.

Manager Maulik Patel said staff were well trained on how to deal with such situations. There had not been any recent incidents of robbery at the Four Square.

Mr Patel, who has worked at the shop for two years, was only promoted to manager a week ago.

"It's not a great start," he said.

Mr Patel said CCTV footage had been given to police.

He described the alleged perpetrators as tall and wearing full-length coats. They were both carrying large bags and had their faces concealed.

Mr Moore said the two men were still at large and police would be continuing with their enquiries.

In 2014 in the Eastern District there were 80 robberies, 720 incidents of unlawful entry, 1456 thefts and 276 thefts of motor vehicles, Statistics New Zealand data revealed.

Police are asking anyone who saw suspicious activity around the Greenmeadows Four Square yesterday afternoon to contact Hawke's Bay Police on 831 0700 or anonymously via Crimestoppers.