Masterton crimes not linked, say police

RAID: CCTV photo of an armed robbery at Eastside Superstore Colombo Road dairy, Masterton.PHOTO/FILE

There is nothing to suggest recent service station burglaries and armed robberies are linked, police say.

Detective Sergeant Matt Wasson said police did not believe there was a connection between the incidents, which include armed robberies at the Kuripuni Sports Bar and Eastside Superstore in Colombo Rd and break-ins at Faulknors Service Station and Western Auto Mart.

"There has been some burglaries of concern with people using firearms but I wouldn't be able to say that they are linked," Mr Wasson said.

"We are investigating each incident to look at the events to identify who is involved."

He did not believe there had been a significant increase in burglaries or robberies in Wairarapa recently, Mr Wasson said.

"At the moment it's not a spate by the same lot of people - I don't even think it's a spate to be fair ... there may have been a few of late but I wouldn't say that it's unusual."

"We obviously treat them seriously but I wouldn't say it's a spate or a significant uplift."

Dairies and service stations were more likely to be targets due to the hours they were open, he said.

"They are open for the public at all hours and depending on the time of night there's not a lot of people to interrupt the activity. These are opportunists - I don't know how much planning goes in, I'd say sometimes not a lot."

Police were doing everything they could to track down the offenders, Mr Wasson said.

"Obviously there's an element of concern and we treat any incident where weapons are used as a high priority ... people using weapons to commit crime is a real risk to the community."

"We love to catch people and hold them accountable where we can."

A Masterton man has been arrested in relation to the Faulknors service station break-in and charged with receiving stolen property.

A 41-year-old man had also recently been arrested and charged with unlawfully possessing two firearms, one of which was a cut-down rifle found when police searched his car, Mr Wasson said.

"We treat any crime with firearms seriously and any opportunity to take firearms from people in situations where they are possessed unlawfully, we will, because there's always the possibility they can be used in crime and there could be a risk posed to innocent members of the public."

Mr Wasson said it was important people were vigilant about reporting anything suspicious to police.

"All that we can say is it's a timely reminder to the public and the community that if they see something that they are concerned about they should contact the police."