Pokie players help catch thief

Police at the Selwyn Tavern after yesterday's incident. Photo / Ben Fraser

Pokie-playing patrons have jumped on a thief at a Rotorua tavern - sending money flying into the air.

Rotorua police Senior Sergeant Geoff Barnett said two men, one armed with a knife, entered the Selwyn Tavern in Kokako St just after 12pm yesterday.

The tavern's owner/operator, Miriam Chapman, said she was the only one working at the time. "They came in very fast. One jumped on to the bar with a craft knife."

Miss Chapman said one of the men was behind the bar looking for money as she yelled out for patrons to call the police.

"There were eight or nine people playing on the pokies.

"A couple of them got up to stop the men."

One of the men escaped out the door but the other was taken down by patrons.

"They jumped on him in a kind of tug-of-war," Miss Chapman said. "They kept him down until the police arrived."

Miss Chapman commended the locals who not only caught one of the men but also retrieved all the money he had taken. "When he got tackled a lot of the money went everywhere," she said.

"It was raining money."

She said those who weren't fighting the man collected the money. "Because of the locals we didn't lose anything."

Miss Chapman said she had never experienced anything like that in her years working in bars.

"I was shaken up a little but not too bad.

•Rotorua police Detective Sergeant Tony Colby said one man had been arrested and charged with theft and aggravated assault. As the Rotorua Daily Post went to print police were still looking for the other man in relation to the incident.