Man’s wild act after alleged jewellery theft
A Queensland man has chased an alleged thief directly into the hands of two undercover cops after a jewellery heist in a NSW shopping centre.
Jordan Gelbart was standing in a Prouds jewellery shop in a Tweed Heads shopping centre on Friday morning when he witnessed a man enter the store and allegedly pour petrol on the counters.
Then, he allegedly demanded jewellery, grabbing pieces and stuffing them into a bag. All the while, Gelbart called the police and began recording the scene with his phone.
“I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing,” Gelbart told 9News.
With a petrol bottle in one hand, the robber then allegedly gestured towards the man before exiting the store.
That was when Gelbart decided to go after the robber.
“So when he made an exit, that’s when I decided, we’ve got to go after this guy,” Gelbart said, chasing the man through the shopping centre and ordering him to “get down”.
“He had a look behind, saw me, saw me chasing him, I tried to sound as intimidating as possible,” he said. Nearby and unbeknowst to Gelbart, who was chasing the alleged robber, two off-duty police officers were pulling up outside the shopping centre.
“I had some serious luck,” he recalled. “Two undercover police officers pulled up, sort of wedged him between a little bit of a ditch, and that’s when they detained and arrested him.”
Footage shows the moment the alleged thief was detained by the police, pinned to the ground and arrested.
The man has since been charged with robbery armed with an offensive weapon and refused bail.
NSW Police are searching for a woman believed to be an accomplice in the alleged jewellery heist. She was last seen driving away from the scene in a red Hyundai i30 with a bag of stolen jewellery.