Violent robbers worry police

There has been a sudden spate of service station raids in Napier and Hastings.

Police are worried someone could be killed or seriously injured if robbers involved in a sudden spate of service station raids in Napier and Hastings aren't caught before any more occur.

The worries escalated after three incidents involving knife-wielding robbers late on Monday night and early yesterday, just two days after a late-night service station robbery in Napier.

Sole staff members were threatened and cash and cigarettes or other tobacco products were taken in three of the incidents, and a fourth was averted when would-be robbers were blocked by a closed entrance door.

Targeted between 11.30pm on Monday and 1.30am yesterday were Caltex stations in Gloucester St, Taradale, and on the corner of Karamu Rd and Alexander St in Hastings, and Hastings' Gull Energy station in Omahu Rd. The Taradale and Omahu Rd stations were robbed by two men at knifepoint, as was Gull's near the Taradale and Hyderabd Rds roundabout in Napier late on Saturday night. Robbers on Omahu Rd fled on foot towards Hastings and turned left into Ballantyne St. Two men fled the Karamu Rd station just after 1am yesterday when a locked door barred their entry and a police car drove past.

Hawke's Bay CIB member Detective Libby Bradford said the descriptions of the two offenders in each of the three later two-hour spate were "the same".

"It is highly likely the three are linked and there may also be connections to the robbery of the Gull service station in Napier on Saturday night," she said.

The two masked raiders in Saturday night's robbery were described as male Maori aged in the late teens or early 20s. One wore a Spiderman mask with a yellow hood and the other a red bandanna across his face and grey beanie on his head.

In the three later incidents, robbers were dressed in black or dark clothing, with scarves covering their faces.

No reports of suspect vehicles were disclosed by police, who were last night seeking any information which could be related to the robberies, including suspicious activity around service stations and people trying to sell cigarettes and tobacco.