A suspected bank robber was caught within half an hour of targeting a Westpac branch yesterday, the latest of more than a dozen armed holdups in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato in less than two months.
It is the second robbery at a Westpac in the eastern Bay of
Plenty in three days. Another man told tellers in Opotiki on Monday that he was sorry for "buggering up" their day after demanding cash.
The incidents follow a separate spate of robberies in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato areas. Police say that while the previous incidents may be linked, the latest are not.
In yesterday's robbery, at the Whakatane branch on The Strand, a man showed a weapon - believed to be a knife - to a teller about 10.40am.
Senior Sergeant Bruce Jenkins said he left with an undisclosed amount of cash. There were several customers in the bank at the time.
Police stopped the 23-year-old man in a white Ford Laser, heading west of the town on State Highway 30, about 11.20am.
He appeared in the Whakatane District Court yesterday on an aggravated robbery charge.
Another man in the vehicle was being spoken to by police.
A man has also been arrested in Whakatane and charged with the Opotiki Westpac robbery.
