Armed police cordoned off Karamu Rd South on Friday afternoon as police searched for a man alleged to have robbed a bar on King St earlier that day. Photo/Warren Buckland.
A man allegedly at the centre of an armed standoff in Hastings last week has been charged with aggravated robbery.
The 32-year-old man was arrested on Friday afternoon after allegedly robbing the Magpies Sports Bar and TAB on King St, Hastings, around midday.
He and a co-offender, who remains outstanding,
were pursued by police before abandoning their vehicle near Hastings Boys' High School.
A number of schools went into lockdown and a portion of Karamu Rd South was cordoned off as the men holed-up inside flatting complex Star Flats.
The Armed Offenders Squad was deployed at the scene throughout the incident during which parents of children in nearby schools waited anxiously for their children to be released.
