Two armed criminals have been beaten off by a broom-wielding elderly woman in a south Auckland robbery gone wrong.
On Sunday, two men wearing high-viz clothing entered a shop in Penrose armed with a black hand-gun and threatened the shop's owner.
However, the shop's owner elderly mum struck back. She charged them with a broom handle - and forced the thugs to flee.
The robbers escaped towards Otahuhu on bikes - one of which was a child's size, lime-green BMX bike.
"Despite the fact that these two have been chased away by an elderly lady with a broom, this was a very serious armed hold-up, a gun has been pointed at an innocent person, who was just doing his job," says Detective Senior Sergeant Aaron Pascoe.
"We need to hear from anyone who recognises these two men before they try this again."
The robbers (Supplied/NZ Police)
It's not the first time high-viz robbers have struck recently.
Police are investigating another incident on Monday morning where a man wearing a high-viz top entered a money exchange shop on Queen Street, and threatened the staff member with a handgun.
He fled with a sum of money, including foreign currency.
"We're investigating whether the two robberies are linked but we need to hear from anyone with information, if you've seen someone wearing high-viz clothing and behaving suspiciously in either of these areas, please let us know, "says Det Snr Sgt Pascoe.
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