Daylight robbery: charges laid over Armaguard hold-up
Andrew Stafford |
A man charged with armed robbery was shot at by police and security guards ahead of his arrest for the attempted robbery of an armoured vehicle in daylight hours.
About 6.30am on Tuesday, an Armaguard van pulled into a shopping centre car park in Hervey Bay in southern Queensland to deliver cash to an ATM.
Police allege a man driving an orange Ford Ranger stopped behind the armoured vehicle, got out of the ute and threatened a security officer with a firearm.
A scuffle ensued, and the security officer fired a shot hitting a tyre of the Ranger, before the man allegedly fled the scene with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.
The Ranger was then intercepted in the Hervey Bay suburb of Craignish at 7.20am.
A 43-year-old man has since been charged with one count of armed robbery and is due to face Hervey Bay Magistrates Court court on Wednesday.
Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield told reporters the alleged offender was outside the vehicle when he was apprehended.
He said the man allegedly claimed he had a knife and threatened police before a service firearm was discharged.
It’s alleged the offender, who was unharmed, drove off only to quickly abandon the vehicle, running into nearby bushland before being apprehended.
Subsequent investigations showed the firearm the man had was a gel blaster.
“We’ll be alleging that there was a level of planning that’s occurred leading up to this event,” Det Insp Mansfield said.
He said the security guard who fired at the alleged offender had made a decision based on the information he had in front of him at the time.
The matter will also be investigated by the police Ethical Standards Command with oversight by the Crime and Corruption Commission.
Armaguard vans are heavily fortified and usually driven by armed guards to transport large amounts of cash, and robberies of them are rare.
AAP