KEY POINTS:
Two people have been arrested in connection with the aggravated robbery of a Rotorua tavern in December last year.
During the robbery, on December 3, two pub patrons were hit with the butt of a firearm, one of them needing hospital treatment and stitches, and the other suffering a swollen jaw.
Another patron was kicked in the chest and the back of the head.
Detective Sergeant Paul Staunton, of Rotorua CIB, said police had today arrested a local man and charged him with aggravated robbery of the Ruck and Maul Tavern.
Another person has been charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Four or five armed offenders, two wearing balaclavas and the others white paper face masks, robbed the tavern about 8.30pm.
They made 10 pub patrons lie down in the TAB area, hitting two of them and kicking another.
The woman manager was forced at gunpoint to remove and hand over cash from 18 poker machines.
The offenders then stole a staff member's grey Nissan Primera to make their getaway, before dumping it at Kuirau Park and escaping in another car.
The arrested people are to appear in Rotorua District Court.
- NZPA
