Dad viciously bashed by trio at ATM - but then it got worse
A father who was bashed and carjacked by a gang of thugs on Tuesday night says he thought he was going to die – and then his night got even worse.
Eugene Regan was allegedly ambushed while using a cash machine at Cheltenham in Melbourne’s south east.
The father of three was at an ATM on Chesterville Road at about 10pm with his motor running when three masked men are alleged to have struck.
Two of the group kicked and punched him while the third went after a bigger prize – his Range Rover.
“I thought, all of a sudden, I could be fighting for my life here,” Mr Regan said.
The 52-year-old was left with a broken finger, bruising, and a grazed face from a kick to the head.
“I just thought it was pretty cruel,” he said. “I thought, f***, get your own money. I work, I’ve got a business, it’s tough.
“I try to think I’m a bit of a tough bugger, but that was pretty hard to handle.”
“I just couldn’t believe what he went through,” the victim’s wife Monique said.
“I couldn’t believe that he got up and was still trying to chase them.”
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Hours after the attack, Mr Regan took his wife’s car to look for his stolen Range Rover – but in a cruel twist of fate, he crashed the car, flipped it and broke his sternum.
“I must have nodded off and I’ve clipped this car, and rolled her car, and all I could think was, ‘my wife’s gonna kill me’,” he said.
“So I survived one thing and now I’m dead. That’s 24 hours of my life that I’d quite happily not do again.”
“If somebody tells me they’ve had a bad day, I’d say, go and talk to him [my husband], Monique said.
On Wednesday night police arrested three males aged between 14 and 19 years old.
They were allegedly found in the stolen vehicle, Victoria Police said.
A fourth teenager was arrested shortly after but later released pending summons.
The 19-year-old man has been charged with theft of a motor vehicle, handling stolen goods and unlicensed driving, and has been bailed to appear at Dandenong Magistrates Court on 8 October.
The 17-year-old and 14-year-old were charged with two counts of theft of a motor vehicle, aggravated carjacking, armed robbery and assault, and will appear at a children’s court at a later date.
