A 15-YEAR-OLD Cheltenham boy and a 25-year-old man from Hampton East have been charged with armed robbery after an alleged carjacking and an attempted carjacking in Mentone, 9.30-9.50pm, Wednesday 27 July.
A delivery driver dropping off magazines at the rear of a newsagency in Como Parade West told police he was ordered out of his Mercedes Sprinter van by a “very agitated” man with a gun in his hand. When he stalled for time, the man allegedly told him: “Get out; I don’t want to have to shoot you.”
The driver, 24, of Croydon North, alleged the gunman had a hammer in his left hand and the gun in his right and was wearing sunglasses. He jumped out and ran down Granary Lane, calling his employer and triple zero.
The driver said he then watched on as the gunman and an accomplice attempted to drive off in the van but, as it was a manual, they appeared to have trouble managing the gear changes and using the clutch.
Police later found the van in the car park at DFO, Centre Dandenong Rd.
Earlier in the evening, possibly the same offenders attempted to steal a woman’s car when she pulled up outside her house in Rimmer St, Mentone.
A woman, 26, said that as she arrived she saw a group of males walking up her driveway, 9.35pm. She stayed in her car as one – possibly aged 16-17 – walked onto the middle of the road and stood with his back to her as she slowly drove forward. When she stopped she alleges he turned around and approached her car with a knife in his hand.
The woman told police she locked her door and, as she began accelerating away, the offender punched the roof of the car. The woman called triple zero when she was at a safe distance.
A 15-year-old Cheltenham boy has been remanded to appear at a children’s court later this month; a 25 year-old Hampton East man has been remanded in custody on this and other matters to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 8 August and a 22-year-old has been released pending summons.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 3 August 2016