IN CUSTODY: Maia Rongonui has been arrested and charged in Napier following a hold up at a Caltex service station in Masterton.
IN CUSTODY: Maia Rongonui has been arrested and charged in Napier following a hold up at a Caltex service station in Masterton.
Police have arrested and charged the man they believe held up a Masterton service station wearing a Halloween mask and brandishing a sawn-off shotgun.
Maia Rongonui, 24, of Masterton, is accused of going into the Caltex service station, in Solway, on November 11, just after 9.30pm, and aiming a singlebarrel shotgun at the woman teller, who was the only one working at the time.
It is alleged he repeatedly demanded cash but she refused to give him the money so he eventually gave up and left empty-handed.
The teller was unharmed.
Rongonui, who moves between Masterton and Napier, was arrested by police in Napier on November 25, after Masterton police circulated Rongonui as wanted.
"From a police point of view, our aim for the community is to prevent any kind of criminal offending.
"Offending of this nature, with a firearm against members of the public, is extremely serious and our response to this particular type of crime is proportionate to the level of violence used during the commission of the offence."
Mr Bysouth said the firearm, police believe was a single barrel sawn-off shotgun, was yet to be recovered.
Rongonui will appear in Napier District Court on December 11.