Robbed in broad daylight: Victim of brazen armed robbery at Papatoetoe bar describes terror

Dramatic CCTV footage has emerged of the moment two men violently robbed a South Auckland bar.

When the robbers, wearing black sunglasses and hoodies, walked into the nearly empty Hala Vuna Corner Bar in Papatoetoe yesterday afternoon, barman Parampreet Singh Wolia knew something was off.

The two men started quizzing Wolia about the pokie machines and asking him bizarre questions, like what time the jackpot went off.

"Then they bent over on the bar table and said, 'Can we get some cash out'. I said, 'How much do you want' and I held the eftpos machine in my hand, then suddenly one of them jumped in and they told me to open the till," Wolia said.

"I refused four to five times but they didn't listen and they then started kicking me and threatening me, saying they had a knife and that they would punch me if I didn't follow orders," he said.

While the two men were preoccupied, taking money from the till, Wolia saw a chance to escape and he attempted to run to safety out onto East Tamaki Rd.

"One of them ran behind me and followed me out, he started kicking me really hard again and then the other one had another go at kicking me but he ended up falling over instead," Wolia said.

Wolia managed to escape out to the road to safety, and said he saw the two thieves run off into a nearby car yard.

When the robbers walked into the nearly empty Hala Vuna Corner Bar in Papatoetoe yesterday afternoon, barman Parampreet Singh Wolia knew something was off. Photo / Google

"Then I called police and they arrived quickly, after about three minutes. They asked me what happened and took fingerprints at the bar," he said.

The two men took around $2500 to $3000 from the till, Wolia estimates.

Wolia said the whole experience was terrifying.

"I was shocked and scared, this has never happened to me before."

There had been drunken altercations at the bar in the past, Wolia said, but nothing like an aggravated robbery.

Police confirmed two men entered a bar on Great South Rd just before 3pm yesterday .

"The males threatened the person working behind the bar and stole money from the till. The bar worker has been assaulted but not seriously injured, and managed to run away.

"The males then fled the scene. No weapons were presented."

Police were in the early stages of their investigation and reviewing CCTV footage.