One man and two teenage boys caught after alleged armed robbery in Mooroobool

A man and two teens who allegedly held up a bottle shop with a knife before making off with booze and cigarettes have been arrested with the help of police dog Bally.

One man and two teenage boys have been apprehended following an alleged armed robbery in Cairns on Thursday night.

A man and two teens who allegedly held up a bottle shop with a knife before making off with booze and cigarettes have been arrested with the help of police dog Bally.

It will be alleged at about 8.15pm on August 17 at a Mooroobool bottle shop, four people entered the bottle shop.

Police allege a shop worker and a customer were both threatened with a knife.

It will be further alleged, the suspects returned to the same premises at approximately 1.10am on Friday, August 18, and attempted to break in before being disturbed and fleeing.

The three were located at a Murray Street address after they were tracked by police dog Bally and his handler.

An 18-year-old Aurukun man has been charged with one count of armed robbery and will appear before Cairns Magistrates Court on August 18.

A 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy are assisting police in ongoing investigations.

It comes after Cairns residents reported “scary” scenes as they watched police cars chase stolen vehicles that had been driven recklessly on the wrong side of the Bruce Hwy on Thursday night.

The Rescue 510 helicopter looped around Cairns between 5.26pm and 6.53pm as it appeared to be tracking vehicles in Cairns North, Parramatta Park, Westcourt, Woree and Edmonton.

On August 17, a leading criminologist behind a pilot program to rehabilitate car-thieving teens in North Queensland said they might have found the answer to reducing youth car crime across the state.

Originally published as One man and two teenage boys caught after alleged armed robbery in Mooroobool