Kidnapped teens 'thought they would die'

A "terrified" 14-year-old girl and a male friend thought they were going to die after two men with knives kidnapped and robbed them in a dramatic attack.

The pair and another 14-year-old girl were sitting in a car in Tui St near Te Puke High School, Bay of Plenty, yesterday when the attackers struck.

One of the 14-year-old girls managed to flee and raise the alarm but the remaining pair were kidnapped and taken to a remote area in the Papamoa Hills.

Detective Lindsay Pilbrow of Te Puke today said: "They were all terrified. They all thought they were going to die. They thought they were going to come to some pretty serious harm. They were really shaken."

The victims were today being helped by Victim Support.

Two Te Puke men, aged 18 and 17, were to appear in Tauranga District Court today jointly charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Detective Lindsay Pilbrow of Te Puke said two men left a group of males in a car and walked over to the three victims as they sat in a car about 12.30pm.

Both of the men were holding knives when one of them confronted the male driver, grabbed his throat, pointing the knife at him and demanding the watch he was wearing.

One of the girls, who had been sitting in the passenger's seat, fled the car in terror and ran to ask for help from a teacher who was outside Te Puke High School, Mr Pilbrow said.

While she was gone, the two kidnappers jumped in the car and forced the driver and schoolgirl to drive to the Papamoa Hills.

While there, police believe the driver was forced out of the car and the men made more demands for property.

However, he managed to get away by claiming he was going back into his car to get more property, Mr Pilbrow said.

He got in, slammed his door shut and locked it before driving back to Tauranga with the other girl still sitting in the back seat. The pair left the attackers behind.

Mr Pilbrow would not say how the two men got back to Tauranga.

Police believed the victims may have known a group of people who the alleged offenders also knew, but the link was not known.

"My understanding is that they may have been looking for another person who they believed was a friend of some of these people in the car," he said. "There's no drugs or any sort of ex-boyfriend thing, it's not that sort of scenario."

Police arrested two men yesterday in Te Puke and could lay further charges as inquiries continued, Mr Pilbrow said. Police were to oppose bail if it was sought in court today.

Te Puke High School principal Barry Foster refused to comment this morning, saying he had not been fully informed by police about what had happened.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES