21 Sep 2005

Armed robber has increasing appetite for confrontation in Cook Islands

3:37 pm on 21 September 2005

Police in the Cook Islands say an armed robber has an increasing appetite for confrontation.

Detective Inspector Akatauira Matapo of Rarotonga police is satisfied with the response from the public in his efforts to catch a masked male.

The gun-wielding attacker used a kitchen knife to graze a teenage boy shopworker on the chest last week, in the third armed robbery on the island within two months.

Police aren't linking the same individual with all three robberies.

Detective Inspector Matapo says contributions from the public will be the key to solving the case.

"We're getting a lot of good response from the public in terms of people ringing in terms of passing information and things like that, and at the same time there are a few businesses who've also stepped up their security."