Detective Sergeant Chris Henderson, of Dunedin, said a man entered the New Zealand Post Shop at 4.03pm yesterday and approached a female teller.
The man handed her a bag and demanded money.
The teller complied with the man's demands, and handed over ‘‘several hundred dollars'', Det Sgt Henderson said.
The offender left after about a minute and was seen running towards Queens Gardens and into Bond St.
The offender was described as a part Maori, or olive skinned European, who was about 165cm tall and of thin to medium build. He was wearing dark sunglasses, a maroon cap with a yellow peak (possibly with writing on it), a grey hooded jacket with writing across the chest and black tracksuit pants with a light coloured strip down the side of each leg.
‘‘All we can say is that police are not really ruling out that it is unrelated to the other robberies which have occurred around the city in recent times,'' Det Sgt Henderson said.
He asked anyone who saw a male running from the scene, or any suspicious vehicle in the Queens Gardens-Bond St area at the time, to contact police.
Police ‘‘saturated'' the area with mobile patrols and monitored banks in the area after the robbery, he said.
No weapon was presented during the incident, Earlier, police said the robber who held up the Bank of New Zealand Mosgiel branch last Friday was likely to be the same man who held up a bank on November 22, and four banks on one day on November 29, police said.
‘‘We are of the view it is the same offender,'' Detective Mike Bracegirdle said.
The robberies were of the same style, which was a new type of offending in the Dunedin area, with the offender requesting money from tellers ‘‘in a non-threatening manner'', he said.
‘‘It is unusual he wasn't wearing a mask. What we are seeing is a new mode of operation.''
Det Bracegirdle said it was unlikely the man was local, as people had not come forward identifying him from bank camera pictures.
Police yesterday released a photo of the car they believe the offender drove shortly after the South Dunedin BNZ robbery on November 29.
A man, fitting the offender's description, was spotted by a member of the public in Broughton St. The car was described as a white 1984 Toyota Corolla DX.
Police believe the car belongs to the offender or someone known to the offender.
‘‘We believe someone in his close level of support owns that [car] and we want them to come and speak to us.''
Dubbed Operation Hoiho, the case of the serial robber is likely to screen on Police 10-7 in the near future, he said.
‘‘Someone knows who this guy is. We will get this man,'' he said.
