A brazen string of robberies of local businesses carried out by a gunman yesterday afternoon left one owner and his staff shocked as the individual got away with cash.
According to reports, a light-coloured saloon pulled up to Dee’s Gas Station on the Sir George Walter Highway shortly after 12.45pm, and the driver leapt out, pointed a gun at a female pump attendant and grabbed her cash bag.
The same robber then targeted ACE Gas Station at the junction of Sir George Walter Highway and Sir Sydney Walling Highway, again getting away with cash, before striking a local supermarket.
The pump attendant at Dee’s was left shaken but unhurt, the station’s owner Jean-Claude Dornellas told Observer.
Dornellas said that anyone thinking of targeting Dee’s again will leave with minimal cash, as the business has a system in place where attendants empty their cash bag every hour – or when it contains a maximum of $500.
Wednesday’s incident is the first armed robbery that Dee’s has experienced this year, and with Christmas less than a fortnight away, Dornellas said that he had been emphasising the need for staff to be extra vigilant.
He added that the incident happened at a time when the station was especially busy, and that staff were shocked at the speed of the attack.
Observer also spoke to ACE where a spokesperson told us that police were still at the scene. Police have also been approached for comment.
Meanwhile, police are also investigating an armed robbery that took place on Monday night at the St John’s Street Brownie’s Bakery.
Surveillance footage of the incident showed two people entering the establishment with guns drawn at their sides.
Dressed in hoodies and ski masks, and pointing their weapons at the workers, the thieves forced their way through the bakery and stole the cash register and its contents.
