A man has been charged following an investigation into the alleged armed robbery and kidnapping of a delivery driver in the state’s south west earlier this year.
About 3am on Saturday 16 May 2020, a 29-year-old man was delivering bread to a supermarket on Allonby Avenue, Forest Hill, about 12km east of Wagga Wagga, when he was approached by a man and threatened with a knife.
The armed man allegedly forced the delivery driver inside the supermarket, where he made multiple failed attempts to gain access to cash registers before demanding the man withdraw cash from an ATM.
The delivery driver was then forced into a white Suzuki Swift and taken to an ATM on Lake Albert Road at Kooringal, where the armed man forced him to withdraw more cash before fleeing in the vehicle.
Officers from Riverina Police District were notified and commenced an investigation.
The Suzuki Swift, which had reportedly been stolen from an Estella home the night before, was found in Harris Park a short time later and seized for forensic examination.
Following extensive inquiries, a 19-year-old man was arrested at Wagga Wagga Police Station yesterday (Tuesday 4 August 2020).
The Mount Austin man was charged with:
- robbery armed with offensive weapon,
- aggravated break and enter dwelling etc in company (x2),
- break and enter house,
- detain person with intent to hold to ransom,
- steal motor vehicle
- take and drive conveyance without consent of owner (x2), and
- destroy or damage property.
It’s further alleged the man broke into a grocery store in The Rock in the early hours of Sunday 17 May 2020, and stole more than $25,000 worth of cigarettes, alcohol and a wheelie bin.
The man was refused bail and is due to appear in Wagga Wagga Local Court today (Wednesday 5 August 2020).
