Police warn the public should "definitely" be worried after a Hamilton dairy worker's fingers were sliced off.
CCTV footage shows four offenders entering the Irvine Street Dairy in the suburb of Frankton shortly after it opened on Saturday morning.
The staff member, a young father, escaped to a back room but was chased down by one of the offenders who swung a machete.
Police were called to the scene about 7:30am and discovered the worker outside the premises with a serious injury to his hand.
At a standup on Sunday, Detective Senior Sergeant Kristine Clarke described the attack as "really, really disturbing".
"It's really taking this type of thing to another level - the gratuitous violence that was involved is distressing. Obviously to the victim and the victim's family and to the wider community and to the police officers who are dealing with it," she said.
"That victim yesterday in the dairy offered no resistance whatsoever to the offenders who came into the dairy. He did everything he could to get out of their way and he was actually hiding in a back storeroom when he was attacked."
Det Snr Sgt Clarke was asked if the public should be worried about the group of offenders.
"Yes, definitely," she replied. "They've shown quite clearly yesterday that they are prepared to use extreme levels of violence."
She said police are committed to finding those responsible and holding them to account for this "horrific offending".
"We would like to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the incident or events immediately after, or who has information about those involved," Det Snr Sgt Clarke said.
"We would also like to hear from anyone who has private CCTV in the immediate area or surrounding streets, which may have captured footage of use to the investigation."
If you can help, please contact Police on 105 or at https://www.police.govt.nz/use-105 'Update My Report' referencing file number 221217/6333.
You can also call Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
