Auckland couple arrested over barefoot robbery

File photo / NZ Herald

An Auckland couple has been arrested after a North Island crime spree that included the robbery of a Wellington dairy.

A barefoot offender demanded money at knifepoint from a worker at Clive's Foodmarket in Newlands on Monday morning.

Detective Sergeant Martin Todd said the worker grabbed a nearby cricket stump to defend himself before the offender fled, taking some tobacco products with him.

A stolen vehicle used in the robbery was found by police south of Shannon, 28km southwest of Palmerston North, yesterday afternoon.

A 30-year-old man and his 24-year-old partner were arrested.

The couple, from Auckland, were due to appear in Levin District Court this afternoon charged over a number of offences in the lower North Island, including the Newlands robbery.

The charges include aggravated robbery, unlawfully taking a vehicle in Taupo last Wednesday, stealing petrol in Napier the following day, shoplifting in Lower Hutt on Sunday and stealing petrol in Palmerston North yesterday.

Mr Todd thanked the public for their "valuable assistance".