Model car collector robbed at gunpoint

Dave's Den owner Dave Pawson said a model car collector went to great lengths to complete his collection - robbing his shop of its emergency service vehicle replicas at gunpoint. Photo / Dannevirke News

A model car collector appears to have gone to great lengths to complete his collection - robbing a shop of its emergency service vehicle replicas at gunpoint.

A man armed with a firearm held up Dave's Den in Dannevirke yesterday afternoon, making off with $1200 worth of model vehicles.

No one was hurt during the hold-up.

Owner Dave Pawson said the models taken were emergency service replicas.

He said a "pretty lethal-looking pistol'' was used in the robbery but police were unsure whether it was a real firearm.

Mr Pawson said despite feeling "a bit" frightened by the incident, he went on to serve three customers who came into the Den immediately afterwards.

"We had three visitors for the Den and I just told them: 'I've just been robbed at gunpoint but don't panic, the police are on their way, it's under control'.''

His wife took down the licence number of the offender's vehicle and passed it on to police.

Central District Police spokeswoman Kim Perks said a 48-year-old Masterton man was arrested in Woodville about 90 minutes after the incident.

He will appear in Palmerston North District Court this morning charged with aggravated robbery and unrelated charges of stealing a jacket and a lamp from a farm in Martinborough earlier this week.