Arrests made in relation to Tauranga aggravated robberies

The Cameronian Dairy was robbed last month. Photo / John Borren

Arrests have been made in relation to a series of Tauranga robberies over the past month.

A 16-year-old has been arrested and will appear in Tauranga Youth Court on Thursday, in relation to the aggravated robbery of the Brookfield Superette on Friday, August 5.

Tomorrow, a 24-year-old man will appear in the city's district court, charged with two aggravated robberies, one at the Cameronian Dairy on July 17 and the other at 14th Ave Dairy the previous day.

In the robberies the 24-year-old has been charged with, there were indications two men entered each store, demanding cash and cigarettes.

Meanwhile, police continue to investigate an earlier aggravated robbery of Brookfield Superette on July 9 and the Busy Bee Dairy in Mount Maunganui on August 6.

In the July incident, a woman working at the Brookfield dairy was held at gunpoint by a masked offender, who demanded cash.

She refused to hand cash over, and was reported to have accused the man of using a fake gun.

In the latter incident, two men were reported to have entered the Busy Bee Dairy, armed with a baseball bat and a hammer.

The men, described as Maori, stole cash, cigarettes and tobacco as well as causing some damage to the store, the police statement read.

Both men were wearing dark clothing and had dark scarves over their faces.

One of the men was thought to be aged between 18 and 20 years old and had a small amount of facial hair.

Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner thanked the community for their help solving the crimes that have resulted in arrests.

"Good old fashioned detective work went into solving these robberies and we would like to thank the community for coming forward and helping us solve these offences."

If anyone has any information in relation to the remaining unsolved robberies, they are encouraged to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111