Latest news with #citizensarrest
News.com.au
17 hours ago
- News.com.au
Chemist Warehouse staff confront alleged shoplifter in dramatic footage
In dramatic footage shared online, two Chemist Warehouse employees have been praised for their bravery in preventing two alleged teenage shoplifters from escaping the store. The clip, shared on Instagram by @its_called_straya, shows the two male employees in uniform using their bodies to block the exit, effectively stopping the teens from attempting to flee. The video begins showing the standoff as the alleged shoplifters try to negotiate their way past the employees. One of the teens can be heard saying, 'Get out of my face, move,' as she attempts to push past the workers. Despite the pressure, the employees remain calm and refuse to budge. A different angle of the incident, shared by @crazynewssydney on TikTok, captures one of the teens insisting that they didn't steal anything. 'Are you actually sweet?' she asks the staff members, while her friend records the encounter. At one point, the teen appears to be talking to someone on the phone, continuing to plead with the staff to let them leave. Legal implications In Australia, you can't detain someone merely on suspicion of shoplifting. There must be reasonable grounds, for example, you saw the offence take place. This is typically known as a citizen's arrest, where 'reasonable force' can be used to detain a shoplifter until police arrive. Public weighs in Comments flooded in, with many applauding the employees for how they handled the situation. One user commented, 'Boys deserve a raise. Didn't lay a hand on her. Well done'. Another added, 'Very professional,' while a third praised, 'Amazing work'. Someone else replied, 'Something needs to be done to stop these youths from thinking it's okay … and these boys did it! I hope their company acknowledges them'. However, not all reactions were positive. Some people questioned whether the risk was worth it. 'Imagine putting your life on the line for Chemist Warehouse,' one person said. Another suggested, 'Let them go, not worth it! The company have insurance for theft'. Someone else echoed: 'If you don't own the store, just get a description and watch where they go. You don't need to be a hero for a large chain corporation'.
ABC News
26-05-2025
- ABC News
Victoria bans machete sales
Andy Park: Australia's first ban on machetes is set to begin after a brazen and violent daylight gang brawl in a Melbourne shopping centre at the weekend. The Victorian Premier's ban comes after a series of high profile and tragic knife crimes both here and overseas. One victim is campaigning for a complete ban on pointed kitchen knives in the UK. The tip and not the edge of the knife being the most harmful source of her own critical injuries. Kimberley Price filed this report. Kimberley Price: Crowds of shoppers flee a Melbourne shopping centre on Sunday as a violent brawl unfolds. A man wielding a machete is seen on CCTV lunging towards two people before a shopper called Anthony stepped in to make a citizen's arrest. Anthony: I saw one of the guys with the machetes just kind of bring it out from his waistband, sort of remove the sheath and then have it in the air and start swinging at it. One of the guys ran towards us into the shopping centre and that's the guy that I tripped over. Kimberley Price: Two teenagers were arrested at the shopping centre and charged with a fray, intentionally causing injury and possession and use of a controlled weapon, while a 20 year old was seriously injured. It wasn't the only knife related incident in Melbourne over the weekend. On Saturday, Victoria police shot dead a woman after she drove at officers while they were arresting a man allegedly armed with a machete. Today, Premier Jacinta Allan declared Victoria will fast track Australia's first machete ban. Jacinta Allan: We must never let the places where we gather, the places where families come together to meet, to shop, to enjoy the peace of their weekend become the places we fear. Kimberley Price: It will be illegal to sell machetes in Victoria from midday Wednesday. The government says the move is an attempt to dry up the market before a ban on possessing the weapons comes into effect in September. Jacinta Allan: This comes also off the work that is being done to provide Victoria police with expanded knife search powers, which has seen a record number of these dangerous weapons being seized and taken off the streets. Kimberley Price: The Australian Bureau of Statistics says knives were the most common weapon used in homicides between 2010 and 2023. Recent high profile incidents like Sydney's Bondi Junction shopping centre stabbing where seven people were killed underline the danger. As authorities hold inquiries into these deadly incidents, overseas, Leanne Lucas, who survived the Southport stabbing in England last year where three children were killed at a dance studio, wants to see an end to the sale of pointed kitchen knives. Leanne Lucas: I feel like I've just had my eyes opened to the dangers of how domestic tools can be weaponised and the fact that they're so readily available. A safer option is to go for a curved or a blunt tip knife that reduces that risk of the kitchen knife being used ever as aa weapon. Kimberley Price: Dr Vincent Hurley is a criminologist at Macquarie University and former New South Wales police officer. He welcomes the Victorian government's ban, but argues it doesn't go far enough. Vincent Hurley: If you go back and look at graffiti about two decades ago, state governments decided to put spray cans behind grills in hardware stores to stop graffiti. If governments were serious about knife crime, then they would put behind grills, machetes, axes, tomahawks and all these sharp implements. They would do what they did with the gun buyback scheme 20, 30 years ago after Port Arthur, where they would pay people to hand in axes, machetes, zombie knives and things like this. Together, those two things would be an excellent suggestion to try and reduce knife crime. It would have to make a difference. Kimberley Price: Dr Hurley believes Leanne Lucas's campaign could prevent some crime, but it wouldn't stop people from accessing other bladed instruments. Vincent Hurley: Knife crimes account for most deaths in Australia against violence against women and machete attacks like this. It is the idea that they are so easily accessible that they are a weapon of convenience. Anyone can purchase them. Kimberley Price: Victoria Police continue to investigate Sunday's shopping centre incident, while the state inquest into the Bondi Junction stabbing attack remains ongoing. Andy Park: Kimberley Price there.
News.com.au
24-05-2025
- News.com.au
Aussie father makes dramatic citizen's arrest, tackling an armed would-be thief
CCTV footage has captured the moment a father disrupted a brazen daylight robbery attempt at a jewellery store, tackling a would-be thief who was armed with a hammer, and performing a citizen's arrest. Anthony Haby, 31, and his partner Jane Fleming were shopping at Bendigo Marketplace just before 4pm on Monday when they heard terrified screams and noises that sounded like gun shots coming from Stearns Showcase Jewellers. The builder rushed into the store without hesitation, where he came face-to-face with a man in his 20s, smashing open glass display cases with a hammer in an alleged robbery attempt. Mr Haby can be seen rushing over to the man, who has his arm inside one of the glass displays, and dramatically tackling him to the ground and pinning him there. While Mr Haby apprehended the alleged thief, his partner Ms Fleming helped staff exit the store. Minutes later, police and security arrived to assist Mr Haby, who then began comforting terrified staff members. 'He was amazing – to not think of himself and put himself in danger – and he was straight on him,' staff member Tina Carson told 9News. 'He thought it was gunshots – he didn't know it was a hammer, he thought it was a gun – and he still came in and tackled him to the ground. 'He's an Aussie hero.' But Mr Haby said he believes he did what anyone would have done in the same situation. 'No, I'm not a hero. Just an everyday bloke, doing something needed to be done,' Mr Haby told 9News. 'Something I think any normal person would do really. 'Glad we could help. Glad no one got hurt – that was the main concern.' Store Manager Cheryl Luvara said the team had nominated Mr Haby for a bravery award. 'Hopefully he'll receive that because I think that's what the award stands for,' she said. The alleged offender has faced the Bendigo Magistrates court. He didn't apply for bail, and has been remanded in custody until August. The following day, the business updated customers on the incident via a Facebook post. 'As you might be aware, there was an incident at our store yesterday. We are pleased to share with you that our two staff members and one of our long-time customers are doing well and remain our highest priority. We are providing all the support and care they need in the wake of this incident,' they wrote. 'We want to recognise the bravery of a true hero, a member of the public, who stepped in during the incident to assist and apprehend the person involved in the incident until Police arrived. His courage and selflessness in such a challenging moment will not be forgotten and is appreciated by the team at Stearns. 'Also, the outstanding support and swift action from the management team and staff at Bendigo Marketplace.'
News.com.au
15-05-2025
- News.com.au
Man body-slammed to ground in dramatic citizen's arrest at Brisbane Airport
A man has been tackled to the ground in a dramatic citizen's arrest at Brisbane Airport. The man had caught an earlier flight from Sydney to Brisbane, and was at Gate 45 of the airport's domestic terminal when he was told he could not board his next flight at about 11.45am on Thursday. Witnesses claimed the man was seen sprinting up and down the aisles of the plane and taking off his shirt prior to the incident, 9News has reported. When an airline staff member informed the man he was unable to board his next flight, the man allegedly began shouting abuse at the Virgin Australia staff. Carrying a large backpack, and dressed in a white T-shirt and a green helmet often seen with Lime scooters, he was promptly tackled to the ground by another passenger. The bystander was helped by Virgin Australia staff to restrain the man while they waited for police. In dramatic footage of the arrest, the man could be heard shouting 'f**k off' to staff and continued to thrash and struggle against the staff holding him down. He was arrested by an Australian Federal Police officer 15 minutes later. The man did not resist arrest and was escorted out of the airport terminal. Brisbane Airport issued a statement thanking those who stepped in to assist. 'Brisbane Airport would like to thank passengers who assisted following an incident at the Domestic Terminal near Gate 45,' the spokeperson said per the Courier-Mail. 'Passengers helped to restrain a man along with crew members until Australian Federal Police arrived.' An AFP spokesman said the man had been charged with one count of assaulting an airline employee and one count of public nuisance. They confirmed there was no ongoing threat to the community. The man has been granted bail and will appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court on June 26.
