Four teens have been charged, and another remains on the run after an early morning crime spree in an allegedly stolen Audi filmed for social media caused widespread havoc across Queensland’s south-east.
Two service stations in Logan and a Brisbane cafe cart were allegedly robbed at gunpoint before the teens’ joyride left a trail of destruction along the Pacific Motorway after the Audi crashed into another car at Coomera on the Gold Coast.
The crash sparked a police pursuit which came to an abrupt end shortly afterwards when officers near Beenleigh Marketplace intercepted the Audi.
While no staff were injured during armed robberies, a woman and child were injured by one of the offenders fleeing the crash scene.
The 12-hour-long crime spree began when a 2014 Audi S3 was allegedly stolen from a Helensvale home on Gold Coast’s outskirts on Saturday night.
Five hours later, at around 3.30am, a teen threatened a service station employee at gunpoint and demanded the cash till. He was seen leaving in the stolen Audi.
The teens filmed their antics and posted on social media during the alleged crime spree
Just five minutes later,a second service station in nearby Kingston was robbed at gunpoint by a teen seen leaving in the same car.
Two-and-a-half hours later, a female cafe worker was held at gunpoint and had her handbag stolen by two armed teens while opening Tribe Coffee Co in Ascot, Brisbane.
It’s alleged the teens then began travelling back towards the Gold Coast as police tracked the vehicle with assistance from Pol Air.
Footage posted to social media shows several teens inside the Audi posing with fake weapons, along with wads of cash, trying to make out they’re armed.
‘Look at this cuz,’ one allegedly boasts.
‘Show them the guns, more guns cuz.’
The Audi was seen travelling south along the Pacific Motorway around 9.30am and crashed into the rear of a Mazda 2 near a busy intersection in Foxwell Road at Coomera.
Two occupants allegedly took off in the Audi while two others fled the scene on foot.
One of them allegedly injured a woman and child during the pursuit. He was arrested a short time later by police who allegedly found a firearm nearby.
Footage from the scene shows the handcuffed teen sitting on the ground barefoot with his shoes and other clothing items strewn nearby.
This teen was arrested a short time after she allegedly fled the scene of a crash involving the stolen Audi
Just after 10am in Logan, police deployed a tyre deflation device and stopped the Audi near Beenleigh Marketplace. Two males were arrested near the shopping centre.
A search of the vehicle located another two firearms.
The fourth teen was later arrested in nearby Daisy Hill.
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A Woodridge man, 18, charged with armed robbery in company will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday.
Two 15-year-old boys and another aged 14 charged with a string of offences will face a children’s court at a later date.
Police alleged they found three gel blaster mock weapons during the arrests.
The manhunt for a fifth male allegedly involved continues.
Tribe Coffee Co owner Mark Hardingham said his female staff member was ‘shaken’ after two hooded teens allegedly armed with a rifle and pistol demanded her belongings as she opened up the cafe cart on Sunday morning.
Footage posted to social media appears to show the teens allegedly in the Audi posing with fake weapons (pictured)
CCTV captured the terrified worker asking the boy ‘what’s that?.’
He replied: ‘it’s a f–king gun, c–t’.
The alleged thieves were unable to take the cash still and only took off with the woman’s belongings.
‘She refused to open the cart and that scared them off. She thought something didn’t feel right.’ Mr Hardingham told the Courier Mail.
‘You want to employ young people and give them a safe working environment, but what do you do.’
‘It’s sad, a crackdown is needed. It puts a lot of businesses at risk.’
Anyone with more information or dash cam is urged to call Policelink or Crime Stoppers.
