Palmerston Police arrested a 17-year-old male after an armed hold-up at a service station in Palmerston overnight.

The offender is alleged to have walked to the Caltex service station in the Palmerston CBD at about 11:30pm last night. He is alleged to have approached the front counter before slamming a 40 cm knife on the bench and demanding cigarettes. The 23-year-old male staff member complied and handed over a packet of smokes, before the offender removed other items of food from the display and fled towards the Oasis Shopping Centre.

Police located the offender a short time later at the Oasis Shopping Centre where he was arrested and conveyed to Darwin Watch House.

The knife was located in a nearby loading bay.

Police are currently completing the investigation and expect to charge the youth with, robbery whilst armed with a dangerous weapon, later today.

A/Senior Sergeant Paul Faustmann from Palmerston Police Station said this is a great result in the fact that an offender has been apprehended for a serious offence without injury to members of the public.

"The shop attendant used common sense by not attempting to apprehend this person and complied with the direction of the offender to ensuring his own safety" he said.

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