Robber goes barefaced in audacious bank raid

The raider handed a teller a note then ran off towards Symonds St. Photo / Supplied

A brazen, unmasked man robbed the Karangahape Rd Westpac Bank yesterday morning before getting away on foot.

The man handed a note to the teller at about 10am demanding money, and once he got what he wanted, ran in the direction of Symonds St.

Adam Evans, who works at The Rock Shop on Karangahape Rd, was in the bank at the time and the said the robbery was very "low key".

"He just handed over a note to the teller, took the money and got out of there. That was it, nobody really knew what was happening, he was already gone before.

"If you were standing in the queue, you would not have known anything happened until they locked the bank down after he was gone."

Mr Evans said the bank was fully staffed and had a lot of customers at the time.

The teller sounded the silent alarm after the offender left and the bank manager went around and told the customers what happened.

"Everyone was pretty calm about it, but a couple of the tellers were a bit rattled."

The robber was described as a tall Polynesian in his 20s or 30s. He had close-cropped black hair, was clean-shaven and was wearing a distinctive black hooded sweatshirt with a large blue and white pattern on it.

Police believe it is possible the same man was responsible for a similar robbery at Kiwibank on Queen St on last Thursday.

A Westpac spokeswoman said and the branch would open today as normal.

Anyone who knows who the man shown in the photograph above should contact police on (09) 302-6471 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on (0800) 555-111.