Woman shopkeeper belted with hammer

A female shopkeeper was hit on the head with a hammer and had her wrists and ankles bound with lavalavas she was selling before a teenager stole money from her till last night.

Later, police spoke with a person about the aggravated robbery at the Avondale Dollars shop, on Great North Rd, and were looking for others.

Detective Sergeant Rick Veacock said the victim, who was working alone, was closing the shop just before 6pm when a young man appeared and pushed her back inside.

He struck her on the head with a hammer and when she fell to the ground, he grabbed lavalavas from the shop and tied her arms and legs together. He then raided the till.

Mr Veacock said the exact amount taken was unknown but it would have been "a few hundred at least".

When the youth ran off, the victim yelled out and a shopkeeper from next door came running to help.

"It looks like some co-offenders were hanging around outside, possibly look-outs," Mr Veacock said.

"The offender has run from the scene, somebody's noticed and she [the shopkeeper] has made a call to the neighbouring commercial premises and then we've been called.

"It's a cowardly attack on a lone female."

The woman was taken to the emergency department at Auckland City Hospital with lacerations to her head. Police had last night been unable to speak to her.

A young man was found soon after the robbery behind a shop on the opposite side of the road.

Mr Veacock said he was assisting police with inquiries but they were still looking for at least three males, believed to be Polynesians in their late teens.

A group of young men, who had their faces concealed by hooded jumpers, were seen in the area a short time before the robbery, he said.

Meanwhile, police are also investigating an attempted robbery at a superette on Hillsborough Rd, near Quona Ave in Waikowhai, about the same time as the Avondale incident.

Senior Sergeant Lance Gardiner of the police northern communications centre said a man entered the shop with what might have been a toy gun and demanded cigarettes.

But he left empty-handed and the shopkeeper called the police.

Anyone with any information on the robbery at Avondale is urged to call Detective Sergeant Veacock on (09) 820-5744.