Knife-wielding robber on the run

Photo / Martin Sykes

Police are hunting a knife-wielding man who held up staff at a Motueka hotel yesterday and escaped with a quantity of cash.

The man, wearing a hoodie and his face covered by a scarf, walked into the Post Office Hotel in Pah Street about 9.30am threatening the staff with the knife and demanding money.

He then ran off through the grounds of the nearby Parkland School and disappeared.

Police said that they had video surveillance of the offender and had recovered a scabbard which they believed he dropped. The scabbard was made to hold a "Muela" brand knife which had not been found

They appeal for anyone who saw anything suspicious to come forward.

- NZPA