A group of machete-wielding robbers are on the run after storming a Waikato petrol station and threatening the sole female worker.
GAS petrol station worker Navneet Kaur said she was opening up the service station at 5am when she found herself confronted by four masked robbers, one armed with a large sharp weapon.
She said they forced themselves into the Avalon Dr, Hamilton premises.
Scared, Kaur said she went inside and locked herself in a room behind the counter.
“I was shaken. In that moment my mind froze, I was not able to decide what to do.
“My legs were shaking and I am still shaken. They did not say a word, as if they knew exactly what to do.”
Station manager Gurjinder Bhuman told the Herald this morning’s incident was the third time they had been attacked in recent weeks.
“This time they knew everything - where we put our cigarettes, when the worker gets in, where she goes first and how to get the products locked in the safe.
“They had planned it to the last second.”
Bhuman said police responded to the incident in huge numbers, with up to 12 officers arriving soon after the incident.
“These people were very quick. They were here in about two to three minutes.”
Security footage captures the terrifying 99 seconds where the raiders kick their way out of the locked shatterproof glass front door, carrying trays of cigarettes to their getaway vehicle.
One robber, clad head to toe in black with white gloves, carries a large machete.
The raiders enter the service station through a hole in the shattered glass at least twice before speeding off.
A police spokesperson said they were called at about 5.45am to an Avalon Dr premises following a report of people entering the store and taking items.
“There were no injuries.
“The alleged offenders left in a vehicle, which was discovered abandoned by Eagle a short time later on Gibson Rd, Dinsdale.
“Police are conducting area enquiries in an attempt to locate those involved, and enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing.”
Today’s raid is just a suburb over from where a dairy worker was attacked and had his finger and thumb severed by a machete at the weekend.
The Irvine St Dairy worker was opening for business when four masked offenders, one of whom was armed with a machete, burst in. They are still being hunted by police.
The victim underwent an eight-hour operation to reattach the digits that were chopped during the attack.
Just days later an early morning crime spree across Waikato saw a series of commercial burglaries, a home invasion and shots fired at police.
It prompted all police in the region to be armed.
Police arrested four youths but say up to six people remain on the run.
Waikato District Commander Superintendent Bruce Bird said the offenders were part of an organised crime group and “these people are now out of control”.
Police have vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
He told media that shots were fired at police from a light-coloured car as officers were carrying out investigations on Bader St in Hamilton early on Monday morning.
The first crime was reported shortly before 2am at a commercial property on Bryant Rd, in St Andrews, Hamilton.
Just before 4am, a burglary at the Noel Leeming store on Duke St, Cambridge, was reported to authorities.
A third crime at a liquor store was reported about half an hour later on Sloane St, Te Awamutu.
Bird said police believed the raids in Cambridge and Te Awamutu were linked but were yet to establish if the offenders were connected to an attack in Hamilton on Saturday morning when a dairy worker had a finger and thumb chopped off by machete-wielding robbers.
Four youths, aged 19, 18, 17 and 15, were arrested on Monday and charged in connection with the burglaries.
Inquiries were continuing in the upper part of the North Island to track the other offenders, Bird said.
Bird believed the offenders were arming themselves in some fashion, but he did not know if they had guns.
Police were “throwing the kitchen sink” at the investigation, Bird said, adding they were “absolutely determined” to find the offenders before Christmas.
“We understand that the incidents overnight have been alarming and unsettling to our community, and we are working hard to hold the offenders accountable.”
Police are calling for witnesses and anyone with information to come forward to assist police.
“The community have had enough, we’ve had enough, and we want people to be safe and feel safe.
“We will be stepping up patrols in retail areas, tasking additional staff to the investigation effort, and working with our partners to address the root causes of youth offending.”
Whooping cough is particularly dangerous for newborn babies and older adults.