Two arrested after Waipapa Superette robbery in Northland

A man and a woman from Kaitaia have been arrested after an aggravated robbery at Waipapa Superette on Sunday. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Two people have been arrested following a violent robbery at Waipapa Superette in the Bay of Islands on Sunday.

Sergeant Phil Le Comte, of Mid North police, said a 26-year-old male and 20-year-old female were arrested in Kaitaia late on Monday.

Both had been charged with aggravated robbery.

A quantity of tobacco taken during the robbery was recovered during a search of the property.

Police were working with the owner of the superette to further increase security, Le Comte said.

The Advocate understands a staff member was assaulted during the robbery, which occurred just before closing time.

Twenty-year-old Shyontei Te-Ana Maree Murray Josephs and 26-year-old Tyrone Alan Hori Gray appeared before a Justice of the Peace in the Kaitaia District Court on Tuesday charged with aggravated robbery.

Both were remanded without plea, Murray-Josephs in custody and Gray on bail, to appear in the Kaikohe District Court on July 26.

Murray-Josephs had been on bail on an earlier charge of aggravated robbery. She had been due in the Kaitaia court on that matter on August 18.

It's not the first robbery at Waipapa Superette, on State Highway 10 north of the new roundabout.

In November 2018 two men armed with a rifle and a hammer entered the shop while children were present.

According to police, one offender ''waved his rifle up and down the aisle'' while the other emptied the Lotto till, jumped the counter and emptied the cigarette cabinet.

They also stole SPCA and Kidney Kids charity boxes, then fled in a car stolen from a locked garage in Ōkaihau.

Two men, aged 21 and 22, were arrested the following month after police searched homes at Okaihau and nearby Rahiri Settlement.

One of the men tried unsuccessfully to escape on horseback.

Both were charged with a variety of offences including aggravated robbery.