Two Auckland banks robbed within hours of each other

Security camera footage of a robbery suspect in the WestCity ASB Bank yesterday.

Police are investigating robberies at two Auckland ASB banks that occurred within hours of each other yesterday.

The first occurred just after 9am at the Papatoetoe branch, where a man passed a deposit slip demanding money across the counter.

He was given a "reasonable amount" of money and left the bank with it in a carrybag. Police found the empty bag dumped nearby.

Three-and-a-half hours later, a man entered the ASB in the WestCity mall in Henderson.

He approached one of the tellers and threatened the staff while demanding money. He was given about $1000 before running from the bank.

Police said it was too early to say whether the robberies were carried out by the same person, although there were some similarities.

No weapons were used in either case, nor were any staff or customers injured or tied up. In both cases the robber walked into the bank, stood in the queue and then demanded money.

Detective Steve Norris, from the Henderson CIB, said the WestCity robber was described as Caucasian or light-skinned Maori, about 1.8m (5'10") tall, of thin to medium build and in his early to mid-20s. He had a small amount of facial hair and wore a black baseball cap, black hooded sweatshirt and black pants.

Detective Constable Pete Hegley, of the Counties Manukau crime squad, said the man in the Papatoetoe robbery fitted a similar description but wore slightly different clothing, including a beanie instead of a cap.

ASB retail banking and marketing head Ross McEwan said both robberies were similar in that they were "low-key" and did not involve large sums.

Mr McEwan said security had improved greatly at banks in recent years. Staff were not able to access large amounts of money so robbers were only getting away with what was in the tills.


* Information about the Henderson robbery can be phoned to (09) 839-0638, Papatoetoe (09) 261-1300.