Attendant injured in service station robbery | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

A Masterton service station worker was attacked and knocked unconscious late last night by a lone intruder, who then snatched $650 worth of cigarettes and fled.

The attendant, 51, was getting ready to close up for the night after his shift at the Mobil Service Station at Kuripuni when he apparently heard a noise in an office and went to investigate.

Detective Sergeant Bill van Woerkom said the hooded intruder had slipped into the office situated behind the public counter undetected. Although the attacker was alone, police suspect he had an accomplice who had picked him up in a car after the robbery.

The attendant had been working on his own and was discovered by a customer who arrived at the service station within minutes of the robbery and alerted emergency services.

Police called the ambulance service at exactly midnight and the injured man was found and taken to hospital. He had bruising to his head and a sore shoulder and remains in hospital today for general observation.

The owner of the service station, Blaine Smith, said staff are feeling "pretty stunned" by what had happened.

He said nothing like this had ever happened at the service station before but it is too soon yet to comment on whether there will be a staff debriefing or a look at procedures to determine whether any new security measures will be put in place.

According to police, the robbery could have been the second of two crimes committed in the immediate area. Investigations have found an adjoining automotive workshop had been broken into.

It is thought this happened just before the service station incident and that a silver Honda Integra with the personalised number plate LWRIDA was stolen.

Police are acting on a vague description of the robber given by the victim. The robber was wearing black trousers, black shoes and a grey and red, hooded top he used to hide his face.

Police were not willing to discuss whether the man was armed but want to hear from anyone who visited the service station between 10pm and midnight, or who were in the general area during those hours.

At first light uniformed police and detectives were back at the service station pursuing their inquiries.