Police want to speak to this man about the robbery of the boy. Photo / Supplied
Police want to speak to this man about the robbery of the boy. Photo / Supplied
Two men told West Auckland boy they would shoot him and stole eftpos card.
A lost autistic teenage boy trying to find the local shop was robbed by two men who promised him a lift.
Even a month after his ordeal, the 15-year-old from West Auckland is still traumatised and his father says he won't be settled until the men are caught.
"These weretwo guys who had two options - they could have either helped an autistic boy find his way home or they could have done what they did and they chose the wrong thing," said the boy's father, whom the Herald has agreed to name only as Keith so as not to upset his son further.
On August 16, Keith had just got out of hospital and was in bed recovering when his son decided he wanted an omelette for dinner, and went to buy some ham.
So Keith gave his son his eftpos card and told him to go to the shop at the end of their street. But the boy tried to find Pak'nSave and got lost.
"He came across a couple of guys walking out of a driveway and he said, 'Excuse me, can you tell me where Pak'nSave is?' and they asked if he was lost."
The men offered him a ride, but when he got into the car, they said they needed $5 for petrol.
They drove to an industrial area at the end of Swanson Rd, locked the doors and told the boy they had a gun and would shoot him if he didn't give them the card and its pin number.
"He was very frightened at this point so he gave it to them, then they dumped him, went to the bank and cleaned the account out."
The boy came across an elderly man emptying his letterbox who helped give him directions home.
Keith said his son was still affected by what he went through.
"We've definitely seen a change in him, a change for the worse ... we're hoping that if these guys are caught he'll have some closure and can move on."
•Contact Detective Corey Brown at Henderson police on (09) 839 0628 with information.
