Man arrested after alleged Armaguard robbery at Eli Waters shopping centre near Hervey Bay
The incident occurred as guards were transporting cash from a van to an ATM.
A man is in custody after a brazen robbery targeting an Armaguard cash-in-transit vehicle at a shopping centre on Queensland’s Fraser Coast early Tuesday morning.
Emergency services were called to Eli Waters Shopping Centre on Ibis Bvd, west of Hervey Bay, at about 6.30am on Tuesday after police received reports an armed robbery was unfolding during a cash delivery operation.
Police said the offender approached two Armaguard guards as they transported cash from a van to an ATM to refill it.
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Mansfield said the man was armed with a gel blaster, not a firearm as initially believed.
He said 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.
“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 later located the alleged offender’s vehicle at an abandoned property on Craignish Rd 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 again in the Ford Ranger before abandoning the vehicle and running into nearby bushland.
He was later arrested following a foot pursuit through the area.
Police have confirmed 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.
The 43-year-old man is expected to appear in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with armed robbery.
Originally published on 7NEWS
