KEY POINTS:
A young couple fled their car when confronted by thieves on the North Shore at the weekend, but one of the robbers was still struggling to start the vehicle when police arrived.
Unnoticed by the thieves, the couple - aged 16 and 18 - had triggered an engine-disabling
device as they abandoned the Toyota Corolla stationwagon.
Detective Sergeant Scott Armstrong said the couple were sitting in the car near Tui Park, Beach Haven, on Saturday night when two men in a 4x4 vehicle pulled alongside and demanded their belongings.
The men were not believed to be armed, but were making threats and eventually reached in through an open car window and stole the girl's handbag.
The couple fled the car and ran to a nearby house, from where the police were called.
Thanks to the disabling switch and his persistence, one of the thieves was still sitting in the hot seat when officers arrived. His companion had left the scene.
A 29-year-old South Auckland man has been arrested in connection with the robbery, and police are still trying to find his accomplice.
He is described as Maori or Pacific Islander in his late 20s, about 182cm tall and solidly built with a tattoo around his bicep.
The robbery follows a series of violent attacks on the North Shore last month, the first of which also involved young people who were sitting in their car.
In that case, the couple were badly beaten just hours before another couple were attacked while walking home from work.
Police went on to arrest a group of young men in connection with those cases and say they were not linked to Saturday's incident, which left the young couple shaken but uninjured.
North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams said the string of attacks was not indicative of a rising crime rate in the city and people should still feel safe going out at night.
"We still do have the lowest crime rate of any city in the whole country."
Mr Williams said he recently went out with a community policing patrol to find out for himself how people were feeling on the city's streets at night.
"Things were reasonably good. There were teenagers and others out but there was no feeling of violence or lack of safety," he said.
"There were lots of young people out - they were on the beaches and in the parks and various places.
"We stopped and talked to lots of them, but everyone seemed to be relatively relaxed and comfortable."
