Brave bottlo staffer praised but others urged not to risk own life
Police were called to the Fowler Road business just before 7.20pm and found one of the store’s attendants – a 49-year-old man – with facial lacerations after he was hit in the head with a wine bottle.
He was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Westmead Hospital, and has since been released.
Officers were told that three men, two of them armed with hammers, entered the bottle shop and threatened a 28-year-old male attendant behind the counter.
His 49-year-old colleague then came out of a store room and threw a carton containing bottles at one of the men, leading to a struggle with two of the men, during which time he was hit in the head.
The three men then fled on foot along Fowler Road before getting into a vehicle and were last seen driving north on Bowden Street.
A police spokesperson said witnesses, who chased the men to the intersection of Frank and Bowden Streets, described the vehicle as a white Toyota Tarago, possibly a 2004-model, with the first registration letter as ‘A’.
He said while the employee who chased the men from the shop acted bravely, he cautioned against confronting thieves, particularly if they were armed.
“The advice we normally give to people is not to risk their own lives and to be compliant to avoid being hurt but this guy did a good job to foil the robbery,” he said.
Two men were described as being aged in their 20s with an average build, and both wore black clothes, with one described as being of Pacific Islander/Maori appearance with a black t-shirt over his head and a black jacket with ‘Henley’ written on the front chest and lower back, while the second man wore a black balaclava.
The third man is described as having a large build and last seen wearing a black, red and white jacket, black pants and white shoes.
