KEY POINTS:
A woman had a knife held to her throat and two high school students were robbed at gunpoint in two separate aggravated robberies on the North Shore this week.
Police are hunting the offenders from both attacks but do not believe the incidents are linked.
In the more
recent incident, a couple, both 17 and from Rangitoto College in Mairangi Bay, were threatened with what is believed to be an imitation pistol as they sat outside the East Coast Bays Leisure Centre in Bute Rd, Browns Bay, about 7pm on Tuesday.
Sergeant Grant Hand said the male victim took his student identification from his wallet before handing it to the robber with just $2 inside.
The robber also took the boy's cellphone before running off and meeting another person about 15m away. The pair fled the scene.
The incident follows a more sinister robbery in which two balaclava-clad men burst into Burger Fuel in Takapuna while staff were tidying up after the store had closed about 10.30pm on Monday.
Detective Sergeant Scott Armstrong said one offender threatened the duty manager armed with a knife.
A second offender took a knife from the kitchen before grabbing a woman from behind and holding the weapon to her throat as he demanded money.
The robbers tore the store's phones from the sockets so the victims could not alert police.
While no one was injured during the incident, the trio inside the fast food store were left badly shaken, Mr Armstrong said.
He would not reveal how much the robbers made off with but said "it was a reasonable amount of money".
Police believe the offenders may have been watching the property, as they had entered and left using a back entrance and seemed to know staff were closing at the time.
Burger Fuel had already changed its security arrangements after the incident, Mr Armstrong said.
Police are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen the pair acting suspiciously in the area leading up to the robbery, or any suspicious activity afterwards.
In relation to the Browns Bay incident, police are seeking a slim man, in his late teens who is about 170cm tall.
He was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt with light "zig zag" designs over it.
Anyone with information on either robbery should call North Shore police on (09) 488 6200.
