Three people, two of them juveniles, have been arrested and charged with a string of aggravated robberies at service stations in Pakuranga last month.
Four service stations – three of them on Pakuranga Road and one on Reeves Road – were robbed within four days of each other in December.
Three stolen cars were used in the aggravated robberies and were taken from Howick and Half Moon Bay and were later dumped in Bucklands Beach and Mellons Bay at similar locations in close proximity to each other.
All the offences occurred in the early hours of the morning at 24 hour service stations – BP on Pakuranga Road (December 5), Caltex on Pakuranga Road (December 6), Gull on Reeves Road (December 8), and Z Energy on Pakuranga Road (December 8).
Cigarettes and cash were targeted.
Following an investigation by the Counties Manukau Police Major Crime Team, suspects were identified and three search warrants were executed on December 19 in Bucklands Beach and Manurewa, Detective Sergeant Rob Hunkin told the Times.
Three people were arrested and were later charged with all four aggravated robberies and in relation to three stolen vehicles used in the robberies, he said.
Two of the offenders are juveniles and the third is a 19-year-old male from Bucklands Beach.
Two of them have been remanded in custody and one was released subject to bail conditions.
Meanwhile, two other people were arrested and charged over unrelated offending detected during the police investigation.
By: Scott Yeoman
