KEY POINTS:
Police are hunting a "brazen" man who has robbed at least two dairies armed with a double-barrelled shotgun before making an escape on one of two distinctive BMX bicycles which had been spray-painted green.
The man is also suspected in a third robbery and police have concerns he could strike again.
In the latest robbery, just before 1pm on Monday, the man robbed the Cedar Superette in Manurewa while six customers, including a 4-year-old girl, were inside.
The store's owner Uday Patel, who was in the store when it was robbed, told the Herald yesterday that the man entered the store armed with the shotgun and holding a black bag.
"He threw the bag on the counter and asked the counter people to fill it with money," Mr Patel said.
"He asked customers to sit down on the floor. He checked everybody sat down and he jumped on the counter."
Mr Patel said the robber seized cash, phonecards, cigarettes, lighters and postage stamps before fleeing the store, making his getaway on a green bike along McQuarrie Ave.
Police later recovered a green BMX, thought to have been the one used, in Frangipani Ave.
"The customers were scared," he said. "But what do you do? You've got to be calm all the time. If you lose control he might do something different."
Mr Patel said it was the first time he had been robbed in 19 years of business but he had not been put off running his shop.
"This is a good area. Nothing happens like this."
Mr Patel was pleased his 19-year-old daughter was not serving customers at the time.
Manurewa police area commander Inspector Alan Shearer said he was concerned by the brazen and aggressive attitude of the offender, who struck while both stores had customers.
"While we don't want to cause business owners unnecessary distress, we're mindful of how volatile situations can quickly deteriorate," Mr Shearer said.
The man, whose face was hidden, is suspected of also robbing the Sunnybrae Dairy on the corner of Russell Rd and McKean Ave at 4.30pm on Friday, when a woman was put in a headlock and had a gun pointed at her head.
The man made off with cash which he put in a yellow plastic bag before riding off along McLean Ave on a bicycle which he dumped before getting into a vehicle that had two other people in it.
That bike, also spray-painted green, was recovered shortly afterwards on McLean Ave.
The Sunnybrae Dairy owner, who asked not to be named, said he was still shocked after the "very, very frightening" experience.
The man said a shotgun was pointed at him and his wife while the robber held one of his regular customers, aged about 25 to 30, in a headlock and demanded money.
Police believe the robber, a solid Maori or Pacific Island man of unknown age, may also be responsible for a similar aggravated robbery at the Wordsworth Dairy on January 4.
