A university student waving a plastic toy gun on a petrol station forecourt in Katikati on Friday morning sparked a panicked call to police that a robbery was in progress.
Katikati's senior constable Lindsay Freeman says the student was celebrating with friends and the group arrived at the Caltex service station in a vehicle just before 3am.

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He says a staff member at the service station saw the 19 year old waving the gun around in the forecourt and immediately called police.
'The staff member thought it was a robbery. He was just having a good time before he returned to university.”
'But the staff member had seen the group earlier in the evening and when they came back, he thought they could have been casing the joint.”
Lindsay says it was an over-reaction and the staff member could have made a few further inquires before phoning police.
Police traced the registration and located the man later on Friday morning, questioned him and let him off with a warning.