Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Cops chase down Qld campervan thieves
Police have been led on a two-hour pursuit after a man and a woman used a screwdriver to camper-jack a couple at an isolated campsite west of Brisbane.
May 23, 2019
A man and woman allegedly armed with a screwdriver have camper-jacked a couple west of Brisbane before leading police on a two-hour chase.
Anthony Melit, 40, and a 30-year-old woman, both from Sunshine Coast, stole the campervan from an isolated free-camping site near the town of Woodford on May 14.
Police spotted the van in Caboolture on Wednesday about 6pm and gave chase.
The pair separated as police tracked the camper in a helicopter.
The man in the van fled south down the Bruce Highway before police used road spikes to stop the vehicle in northern Brisbane.
He ran but police chased him down and arrested him about 7pm.
The woman fled from the Caboolture area in a ute after the couple separate, but police arrested her about 8pm at Brisbane airport.
The pair were charged with armed robbery, two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, robbery in company, stealing and one count of attempted credit card fraud.
Police would not say what happened to the couple whose van was stolen.
Melit appeared in the Caboolture Magistrates Court on Thursday and was remanded to reappear in the same court on July 11.
The woman is also scheduled to appear in the court on Thursday.