14 young people arrested after St Lukes and other Auckland and Waikato recent smash and grabs

Police have arrested 14 young people after recent commercial aggravated robberies in Auckland and Waikato.

Auckland City police arrested six people after an aggravated robbery at St Lukes Mall last week, Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers said.

Offenders wearing masks and carrying batons targeted Stewart Dawson's late on Tuesday afternoon last week, smashing glass cabinets and grabbing jewellery before fleeing.

The alleged robbers stole approximately $371,000 worth of jewellery from the store.

An Operation Rhino investigation team overnight arrested and charged an 18-year-old male and five youths over the robbery, Chambers said.

The six alleged offenders, along with two other youths, have also been charged with conspiring to commit aggravated robbery after police said they found them in two vehicles in East Auckland on Monday night.

Police found jewellery and other evidence when they searched the vehicles.

All eight alleged offenders arrested overnight will appear in the Auckland District Court and Youth Courts respectively, Chambers said.

Another alleged youth offender has already been charged and is before the Youth Court.

Ram raids across the country have terrorised shopping centres, and workers are getting increasingly anxious to return to their work out of fear that they will be next.

One worker, whose store is very close to a Michael Hill in Hamilton that was raided last week, said the burglary left her "freaked out".

"I was absolutely beside myself; I didn't know what to do," the worker said.

Another worker couldn't recount the robbery, saying it was too traumatising and too soon.

Six arrested in connection with Hamilton robbery

Six people have also been arrested after the robbery of a bottle store in Hamilton.

Police were called to the store in Borman Rd, Flagstaff, about 6.50 pm yesterday.

Offenders were seen entering the store wielding tyre irons, machetes and screwdrivers, using them to threaten workers inside.

They then fled with stolen goods in two stolen vehicles. Police said the vehicles were not used to gain entry to the store.

One of the vehicles was seen a short time later by police on Hukanui Rd before it was found on Chedworth Pl.

Officers put cordons in place and found six people believed to have been involved in the robbery, from the two vehicles.

Some of the weapons were inside the vehicles, and another in a nearby garden.

Two young people were due in Hamilton Youth Court today, while four others are due in court tomorrow.

One of the people arrested in East Auckland last night has also been charged in relation to the aggravated robbery of Michael Hill Jeweller at The Base in Hamilton on Sunday.

A group of at least seven masked and armed robbers were seen smashing glass cabinets and taking items at around 11.30 am.