A 43-year-old man is in police custody following a brazen armed robbery targeting an Armaguard cash-in-transit vehicle at a shopping centre on Queensland's Fraser Coast early Tuesday morning.
Robbery at Eli Waters Shopping Centre
Emergency services were called to the Eli Waters Shopping Centre on Ibis Boulevard, west of Hervey Bay, at approximately 6:30am on Tuesday after reports of an armed robbery unfolding during a cash delivery operation. Police said the offender approached two Armaguard guards as they were transporting cash from a van to an ATM to refill it.
Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield stated: "Police spoke with armoured cash courier service staff members. During that conversation they were alerted to the fact that they'd been held up at gunpoint." Mansfield later confirmed the man was armed with a gel blaster, not a firearm as initially believed.
Physical altercation and escape
A physical altercation occurred between the offender and one of the guards, during which a shot was fired by the security officer before the alleged offender fled the scene in an orange Ford Ranger carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. "The offender escaped with a large sum of money in his own vehicle, we believe, and fled from the scene," Mansfield said.
He added: "One of those security guard officers discharged his firearm, which has hit one of the tyres of that vehicle upon its escape." The two guards later sought treatment for minor injuries and were described by police as shaken by the incident.
CCTV footage captured from nearby businesses allegedly showed the man running from the shopping centre and loading bags into the tray of the ute before speeding away.
Police pursuit and arrest
Police later located the alleged offender's vehicle at an abandoned property on Craignish Road at nearby Craignish, where officers confronted the man. "Police challenged that vehicle as they approached it. The male person was outside of the vehicle at the time," Mansfield said.
Officers confronted the man at the abandoned property before he allegedly threatened them with a knife. A police firearm was discharged during the confrontation, but the man was not hit and allegedly again fled the scene in the Ford Ranger before abandoning the vehicle and running into nearby bushland. He was later arrested following a foot pursuit through the area.
Stolen cash recovered
Police have confirmed that the stolen cash, described as amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, has now been fully recovered. "Yes, all money has been located and accounted for," Mansfield said.
Crime scenes were established at both the shopping centre and the abandoned property as forensic investigations began. Mansfield said investigators were examining CCTV as part of inquiries into whether the robbery had been planned in advance. "We'll be alleging that there was a level of planning that's occurred leading up to this event," he said.
Court appearance
The 43-year-old man is expected to appear in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with armed robbery. Armaguard robberies are uncommon, with only a handful of major incidents recorded over recent decades, including the 1994 Richmond heist in Melbourne, where offenders disguised as road workers stole about $2.3 million, and a 2018 hold-up outside a shopping centre at Clemton Park in Sydney.
