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Armed robbery at ANZ Temuka

Wednesday 27 January 2010, 4:41PM

By New Zealand Police

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TEMUKA

At approximately 10.30 this morning the Temuka Branch of the ANZ was the subject of an armed robbery.

A single male offender entered the bank with a pistol which he showed to bank staff. He left with an undisclosed amount of money.

A short time later a Mazda motor vehicle was stolen from a nearby Temuka address. Within minutes of the vehicle being stolen it was observed being driven north on SHW 1 by a Uniformed Traffic Patrol.

A pursuit ensued which at times reached speeds in excess of 140 kilometres per hour.

In the Hinds area the male driver of this vehicle, stopped the vehicle in the middle of the road, got out and approached the Police Car pointing the pistol at the Officer.

The Officer backed away from the situation and the suspect got back into his vehicle and continued travelling north.

On entering Hinds Ashburton Police Patrols assisted the pursuit and just north of the Hinds Bridge the suspect attempted to drive into a Police car.

The pursuit carried on towards Ashburton and was called off by Police on entering Tinwald. This was due to the manner in which the suspect was driving and speeds reached, plus the safety of the Police staff involved, the general public and the suspect and his passenger.

The vehicle then travelled over the Ashburton Bridge before he appeared to loose control of the vehicle striking a stationery car. The stationery car then cannoned forward into another vehicle.

Both the suspect and his passenger fled the vehicle in different directions. Both were caught with the assistance of the public.

Ambulance and Fire attended the accident scene with one person being removed from a vehicle with the assistance of the fire crew. This person was taken to hospital where he is being treated for his injuries, these are not life threatening.

The suspect who is a 21 year old male has been arrested and will be charged with a number of offences, while enquiries are continuing concerning his passenger's involvement.

The Police would like to extend our thanks to the general public that assisted both in the apprehension of the suspects and at the crash scene.