A 30-year-old man, claiming to be the brother of an NRL star, has been arrested for allegedly leading police on a wild pursuit through south-west Sydney.
Jamie Twal sparked the 45-minute pursuit after he allegedly stormed a Celebrations liquor store at Merrylands claiming to be the brother of West Tigers player Alex Twal about 6pm yesterday.
“He goes to my son, ‘I am Jamie, my brother is an NRL player’,” a witness said.
Twal then allegedly took a souvenir bottle in the shape of an AK-47.
“He was saying I will turn this one into a real gun,” a witness said.
He’s then accused of running onto Hilltop road, first pointing the gun-shaped bottle at a bus driver before stopping and carjacking a white Toyota Sedan.
Twal allegedly made the driver take them to Parramatta, where the driver then handed the vehicle over to him.
From there, police alleged he drove through Parramatta Road, slamming into other vehicles before a police helicopter spotted him dumping the car on Boronia Street at Ermington.
By the time police caught up to the car, it had sustained some damage.
“I saw a car drive down the road with no tyres driving on the rims,” witness Nick Gray said.
“It was sounding like rattling tins.”
Twal was ultimately arrested at an Ermington home but police believe it wasn’t his intended destination.
Police alleged he ordered the driver he carjacked to drive him to Villawood.
Twal remains in custody tonight facing a string of charges including larceny and using an offensive weapon.
