Police hunt brazen van robber

Hamilton police were last night hunting a man who leapt from a car and robbed a guard at gunpoint, and Auckland police were searching for a man who stormed a pub in Papatoetoe.

Police said they were astounded at the brazen nature of the Hamilton robbery, which happened as a Rapid security van driver was picking up bags of cash and cheques from the Hamilton City Council offices on Anglesea St.

The van had backed up to the side of the council building and was being loaded when a car pulled up almost in front of it at 4pm.

A masked man jumped out carrying a sawn-off firearm and demanded money from the guard.

Waikato police spokeswoman Kris McGehan said the guard handed over some of the money and the man returned to his car and drove south down Anglesea St.

The getaway car was soon found parked in a garage on a residential property in Queens Ave by the Fire Service. A fire had been set on the passenger seat. The robber escaped with an undisclosed amount.

The holdup followed an aggravated robbery in South Auckland where a man walked into a pub at 10.30am and threatened staff with a handgun.

Workers at the Papatoetoe pub locked themselves in an adjoining office and called police. The man escaped before police arrived.

The armed robberies follow other armed incidents this week at a bank in Penrose and in K Rd.

Detective Senior Sergeant Eddie Iosefa, from the Auckland crime squad, said police were concerned about a "prevalence of firearms used in similar crimes" in recent weeks.