Thames armed robbery

At 6.48am on Saturday 12 March 2011 a lone offender entered Boomerang Store, Te Puru, north of Thames, armed with a pistol-type firearm.

He presented the pistol at the female victim as he walked around behind the counter. The offender grabbed the female victim's throat and pushed her into a freezer as he walked past her on his way to the tobacco display. The victim ran out the back of the store to raise the alarm.

The offender has then loaded a number of tobacco packets into a satchel and left the scene on foot in a southerly direction along the Thames Coast Road.

The victim was not injured but was very shaken as a result of the robbery.

The offender is described as a teenaged male Caucasian. He was wearing a dark blue or black hooded sweatshirt with 'AB' in white writing on front, a light coloured item was covering lower the half of his face. He also had on black shorts and black 'Chuck Taylor' shoes with long black socks (mid calf) and was carrying a blue and black satchel-type bag with red padding on shoulder strap.

Thames Police would like to speak to anyone who may recognise the person described or anyone who was in the area or travelling through Te Puru between 6.45am and 7.15am on Saturday morning.

If anyone has any information please contact Detective Constable Andre Kavanagh at Thames Police Station on (07) 867 9600 or alternatively leave information anonymously on the CrimeStoppers crime line, 0800 555111.