Four men have been arrested and charged in relation to the armed robbery and shooting that took place outside the Westpac Bank of Tonga branch at the Si'i Kae Ola shopping centre on May 26.

Three armed robbers ambushed a female business cashier from the Country Fried Chicken Co., and shot her driver in the leg before fleeing with $3,000 pa'anga cash.

Deputy Police Commander Taniela Faletau confirmed this morning that the four men, all aged 24, from the village of Mataika, Tongatapu, had been charged with the crimes.

He said one man has been charged with attempted murder, one for robbery and two men are charged with abetment to robbery.

The man charged with attempted murder was tracked down and arrested by the police in Vava'u on June 9. The man charged with robbery was arrested later on June 16 and the remaining two were arrested over the last weekend, he added.

The four men are being kept in police custody and will appear before a Magistrate Court on Monday, June 30.

Daylight robbery

The police reported the daylight robbery took place around 3 pm on May 26.

Four employees from the Country Fried Chicken arrived at the parking lot outside the Westpac bank branch and the cashier got out to deposit the money in the bank.

At the same time a white car pulled up beside them and two men disguised in masks and hooded jackets got out with guns and forcefully tried to snatch the money.

A male employee who accompanied the cashier got out to help her but he ended up being shot on his upper thigh by the robbers, before they fled the scene.