Hamilton robber storms bakery with a knife, gun and ball hammer down his pants

Patrick Arahanga, 37, stormed Sai Bakery in Hamilton East with his pants stuffed with various weapons. Photo / Google Maps

A man stormed a bakery intending to rob it, with a firearm, a 20cm knife and a cut-down ball hammer stuffed down his pants.

While a worker at Sai Bakery in Hamilton East couldn’t see which weapon Patrick Steven Arahanga grabbed when he reached into his pants in the attempted robbery on March 23 last year, he believed it was either the knife or the firearm.

It’s also unclear how he stored such a cache of weapons in his pants, but Arahanga left empty-handed thanks to quick-thinking customers who walked in on the robbery attempt and ran off to alert nearby police officers.

This week the 37-year-old appeared in Hamilton District Court, where he was sentenced on admitted charges of demanding with menace, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of a cut-down ball hammer.

Details of Arahanga’s offending revealed he had demanded that the bakery employee open the till and hand over whatever cash was inside.

When he was told there was no cash in the till he reached into the front of his pants and took hold of an object.

The worker couldn’t see what it was but believed it to be either a knife or a firearm.

While holding the object, Arahanga again demanded the victim open the till, threatening to open it himself if need be.

As he began moving towards the area behind the counter, several customers entered the shop.

The worker motioned to the customers that he needed help.

One of them left the shop and alerted several police officers nearby, who came in and arrested Arahanga.

When Arahanga was searched, police found a knife with a 20cm blade, a cut-down .22 firearm and a cut-down ball hammer down his pants.

He was also found with 2.6 grams of meth in a snap-lock bag.

After reading the victim impact statement, Judge Phillip Crayton acknowledged the ongoing emotional and psychological harm suffered by victims of aggravated robberies.

“Take it as read [the victim’s statement] that it must be extremely distressing.”

Crown solicitor Kasey Dillon said the offending was premeditated, there were threats of violence and by Arahanga taking hold of the weapon, it was evident he was using it to support his offending.

Defence lawyer Jessica Tarrant accepted intimidation was involved, by his presence or demeanour, but not at the level the Crown alleged.

Judge Crayton said a cut-down .22 firearm was an “instrument of crime and the reason why it’s carried is that it’s easily concealed and the most frightening or intimidating weapon to threaten with”.

“It has no lawful purpose.”

Arahanga was jailed for two years and the judge ordered that the weapons be destroyed.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.