Armed pair flee Hamilton store empty-handed

File photo / Martin Sykes

Two men, one of them with bad teeth and armed with a shotgun, attempted to rob a Hamilton industrial supply store today, before fleeing empty-handed.

The pair entered the Pump and Electrical Services store on Lincoln St in the suburb of Frankton shortly before 4pm, said Detective Sergeant Dave Grace, of Hamilton CIB.

"One of the men was armed with what we believe to have been a sawn-off shotgun which he pointed at a staff member and made demands before both left, empty-handed," Mr Grace said.

"The pair ran towards Edgar St where we believe they had a car waiting."

Mr Grace said police were keeping an open mind as to whether the robbery was linked to earlier robberies in the city, including that of a Greenwood St liquor store in which a man was shot and hit with a hammer on Saturday night.

"The description we have been given of those involved in this afternoon's robbery differs to that of those responsible for the previous incidents," he said.

The offenders in today's robbery were described as Maori and both were wearing grey hooded sweatshirts.

Mr Grace said the one offender was aged about 35, of solid build with short hair and wearing glasses, while the offender with the firearm was described as being very tall, about 190cm in height, and missing two front teeth.

"Those teeth he did have were also described as being in poor condition and he had some facial stubble."

Mr Grace said several people were in the area at the time of the robbery and police were keen to hear from anyone who may have seen anything or had information.

The two armed robbers who shot the liquor store owner - and may also be responsible for another armed robbery - were still on the run today.

Jiwan Singh Dhaliwal, the Greenwood St store's 58-year-old owner, was shot in the right shoulder and suffered a fractured skull after being hit over the head with a hammer in the raid on Saturday night.

He was in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital.

Police were looking into a possible link with a robbery in Hamilton's Grey Street on Thursday night, during which a shotgun was also fired but no one was injured.

In two other armed robberies today, Feilding's BNZ was held up by someone with a handgun, while a shotgun-wielding man stole tobacco from a dairy in Ohakune early this morning.

- NZPA