Police believe an armed robber has gone to ground in South Taranaki after he and an accomplice raided a New Plymouth bar.
One offender was nabbed in Normanby, but the other remains on the loose and has not been sighted since Sunday's robbery, said Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward who is
heading the manhunt.
Armed offenders squad members are among police officers still scouring the area after they yesterday captured two prisoners who escaped from Linton prison in the Manawatu on Friday.
Phillip William Payne and Steven James Shortcliffe were captured near Inglewood as they tried to hitchhike on State Highway 3A.
The Treehouse bar and cafe in New Plymouth was robbed about 11.25 on Sunday night. The offenders, one armed with a sawn-off shotgun and the other with a cut-down rifle, fled in a vehicle on State Highway 45.
They got away with an undisclosed sum of money, from bar takings and pokie machines. Two bar staff were working at the time of the robbery.
"This man is an armed robber -- people should not approach him," Mr Coward told NZPA today.
Police believe they have recovered the robbers' getaway vehicle.
"We think perhaps that he's in the area... because yesterday we saturated the area and there's a good chance he would have gone to ground," Mr Coward said.
"We don't think he's got too much local knowledge. The fact that they did the robbery at The Treehouse and left via State Highway 45 is in my opinion unusual."
He believed the robber was from out of the area because of the escape route was used.
The offender at large is described as a male Caucasian aged between 20 and 30, of medium build and about 180cm tall. He was wearing blue jeans and boots at the time of the robbery.
Police reinforcements had been called in from Palmerston North and Wanganui for the hunt.
The arrested was being questioned, Mr Coward said.
- NZPA
