'Brazen and dangerous' bank robbers still on run

Photo / NZPA

Two "brazen and dangerous" men are still on the run after robbing a Rotorua bank on Friday afternoon.

Officers have spent the weekend interviewing witnesses and examining the stolen car the pair used in the robbery of the Westpac branch at Ngongotaha.

Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Tony Colby, of Rotorua police, said the Ngongotaha township was very busy when the robbery happened and he hoped someone might be able to identify the men.

There were two customers and a 12-year-old girl in the bank at the time.

"Both customers had firearms pointed at them, and one had a demand made for cash he had just obtained," Mr Colby said.

The customers managed to flee the scene and alert passers-by to the robbery.

The "brazen and dangerous" men had put innocent people at risk, Mr Colby said.

"Thankfully, the bank staff and member of the public confronted by these offenders did the right things to ensure no-one was hurt."

One offender was a Maori or Pacific Islander, 20 to 30, about 1.8m tall and of medium build. Police have released a photo of the man without his face covered.

He wielded a double-barrelled shotgun.

The other was a shorter man armed with a pistol.

- NZPA