27 August 2009

Upper Hutt Bank Robbery

At about 1.35 pm today the BNZ Bank in Upper Hutt was robbed by a male.

The offender did not have any weapons with him but handed over a note to the teller.

He escaped with an undisclosed sum of money but was seen by a bank employee and followed to his vehicle. The employee took a photo of the vehicle which he was able to give to police.

A short time later police located the vehicle at an address in Upper Hutt. It was stopped by armed police after it left the address around 2.45 pm.

A 41 year old male from Lower Hutt has been arrested and charged with robbery. The cash has been recovered.

The male will appear in the Upper Hutt District Court tomorrow.

He has also been charged with the Upper Hutt Westpac Bank robbery of 4 August 2009.

Mike Hill
Inspector
Area Commander: Upper Hutt

via nzpolice

Ok that now makes it 3 bank robberies in as many months, not resolved. This one, Westpac in Upper Hutt last month, and the Kiwi Bank at Queensgate Westfield. At least the offender was caught which goes some way toward justice. My concern is for the staff impacted. I have been involved in seeing the repercussions of an armed robbery and the impact it can have on those involved, not just now but several months or years down the track, it is not pleasant.

Equally the incidents of robbery of this type are on the increase and there is no denying that some parts of our society are being impacted far greater by the economic recession. I fear that more of these will occur as unemployment figures continue to rise.