Geelong Westpac Bank attempted robbery, teller assaulted

A customer has captured the dramatic moments when an attempted robber assaulted a teller and demanded cash from a Geelong bank. HEAR THE AUDIO.

An audio recording has captured the terrifying moment a man yelled “hands up” inside a CBD bank and demanded cash before clobbering a teller over the head.

Victoria police have confirmed they are investigating after a 51-year-old Westpac Bank teller was assaulted about 2pm on Tuesday.

The perpetrator remains on the run.

Customer Sharon Skelhorn described the moment the “erratic” and “anxious” man demanded money inside the bank as “10 minutes of terror”.

“It sounded like a life or death situation for him,” she said.

“I realised that could have been my last moment … everyone experienced over 10 minutes of terror.”

Ms Skelhorn and her mother were at the branch on the corner of Moorabool and Malop streets to organise funeral plans for her stepfather when the appointment took an unexpected turn.

Her audio recording of the conversation between the bank teller and her mother inadvertently captured the terrifying moment.

“I didn’t understand what he first said but in the recording it is actually him saying ‘hands up’, all I noticed was everybody stood still,” she said.

“We heard a man’s voice and it didn’t alert us that something was happening.

“It was only until he started saying ‘give us some money, give us some money’, it became something of terror.

Westpac’s Geelong CBD branch. Picture: Alison Wynd.

“We heard this loud thumping and all I could see in front of me was a teller who had been clobbered over the head and he was staggering over the room, holding his head.

“I started panicking because I thought maybe that was the last time I was going to see my daughter.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the victim sustained minor injuries to his face and no arrests had been made.

A security guard was stationed inside the bank and was letting patrons in one at a time on Wednesday.

A Westpac spokesman confirmed an incident happened in its Geelong branch on Tuesday.

“The safety, security and wellbeing of our employees and customers is our number one priority and we’ve offered appropriate and ongoing support to impacted employees,” he said. “We take a zero-tolerance approach to aggressive behaviour in our workplaces and we’re co-operating with Victoria Police’s investigation.”

Investigations remain ongoing and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

Originally published as Geelong Westpac Bank attempted robbery, teller assaulted