The man arrested after an Armed Offenders Squad stand-off at a Rotorua bank has made his first court appearance on kidnapping and threat charges.
Eight charges were laid before he appeared at Rotorua District Court on Thursday: seven charges of kidnapping and one charge of threatening to kill/do grievous bodily harm.
The 35-year-old, who was granted interim name suppression, entered no pleas to the charges and was remanded in custody ahead of his next appearance.
Police were called to BNZ in Amohau St about 3.55pm on Thursday 'after a man entered the property and took a group of people hostage,” says a police statement.
A man could be seen inside the bank, talking to police through the door.
Just before 5pm, a man came out with his hands up and was walked away by police.
The bank was closed on Friday but a senior staff member was speaking to Ngati Whakaue and Te Arawa kaumātua Monty Morrison outside the building.
Morrison says he had been asked to perform a karakia for bank staff at 8.30am on Monday before they returned to work.
The bank's local manager declined to comment.
1 comment
Hmmmm
Posted on 11-11-2022 15:33 | By Yadick
Surely it should be 7x kidnapping, 7x threatening to kill and 7x threatening GBH plus weapons charges. I would certainly hope there's more charges pending.
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