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Updated ,first published
A man has been charged with robbing an armoured van with a gel blaster north of Brisbane and taking a “significant quantity” of money before fleeing.
Queensland Police said the Armaguard vehicle was stopped at the Ibis Street shopping centre in Hervey Bay about 6.30am on Tuesday when the man approached the van’s security guard.
A skirmish erupted between the pair. Police said the guard fired a shot that hit the alleged offender’s car, but no one was injured.
Officers said the thief then fled in an orange Ford Ranger with a “significant quantity of cash”.
Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said police spotted the man at an abandoned property, where he threatened them with a knife.
He said officers fired shots, “however, no one was struck with that firearm, and that male offender again escaped from the scene”.
The police pursued him and found the car beside Craignish Road, about 10 kilometres away, and saw a man running into bushland nearby.
“The vast majority of the cash was still located in the vehicle,” Mansfield said.
The 43-year-old man was taken into custody and will appear at Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with armed robbery.
Police said the man had used a gel blaster, a realistic-looking toy gun.
They would not confirm reports that the car had recently been seen in the car park scoping out the location.
“We’ll be alleging that there was a level of planning that’s occurred leading up to this event,” Mansfield said.
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