CCTV has captured the moment a tradie tackled an alleged petrol station robber to the ground on the Gold Coast.
The offender, dressed in dark clothes, can be seen marching toward the till at Hope Energy service station on Brisbane Road in Biggera Waters shortly after 5am yesterday (local time).
They allegedly demanded cash and cigarettes from the store attendant, and told people to put their hands in the air, 9News reports.
Two tradespeople dressed in neon yellow high-vis shirts initially moved out of the way of the person, before one of the men closest to the counter grabbed the alleged offender from behind and tackled him to the ground.
Shop attendant Sasha Hemara said as the incident unfolded before her eyes she initially thought it was a “joke”.
“I was just working hard as usual, busy, busy and then the young guy comes running in telling everyone to put their hands up with something up his shirt, and I was looking at it like ‘well that’s not a gun, so get your banana out of here’,” she laughed.
The tradie, Murray Allen, told 7News about the moment he sprung into action.
“I was shitting myself to be quite honest but he had to be stopped,” he said.
Allen said he wasn’t a hero, but did enjoy watching the footage.
“Oh, I’d have to give that a 9.5 mate,” he told 7News.
Officers arrived at the petrol station and took a 24-year-old into custody. He has since been charged with one count of attempted armed robbery.
It’s not the first time this year that an Australian tradie has taken matters into their own hands.
In May, CCTV footage captured a tradie dragging a thief, armed with a knife, down the footpath after they attempted to steal tools from the back of his car in Melbourne.
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