Elderly woman resists knife-wielding assailants

An elderly woman fought back when four assailants with large kitchen-type knives burst into a takeaway shop in the Wellington suburb of Naenae last night, Lower Hutt police say.

The woman had been the only person in the Rata St Takeaways shop when the four -- thought to be males aged 14 to 18 -- entered the shop through the front door about 11pm, using the knives in a "very threatening manner".

"Two of the men went around behind the counter, where one of them physically pushed the victim into a corner and struggled with her, during which she was able to remove the knife from his hand," Detective Sergeant Tony Heathcote said in a statement.

"In a cowardly manner, that offender has then run back around the counter to the other side without having obtained any cash from the victim."

During the struggle the offenders had tried unsuccessfully to open the cash register, Mr Heathcote said.

They appeared to have briefly left the shop before one of them returned within a few seconds to try again to get into the cash register.

"He was unsuccessful in this and was clearly quite agitated at the resistance provided by the victim and before running off, he picked up a plastic chair from the waiting area and threw this at the victim."

Police had been alerted by a passerby and a tracker dog had followed the offenders' trail for a time before losing it.

Investigators wanted to hear from anyone with information about the "particularly cowardly attack on a defenceless woman", Mr Heathcote said.

She had been treated at Hutt Hospital for injuries received when struck by the offenders, who were Maori or Polynesian, wearing hoodie-type tops pulled up in an effort to cover their heads and part of their faces.

- NZPA