Victim of Bicycle Bandit robbery at Mount Pleasant bank in 2005 tells of the ongoing trauma

TRACEY Davis thought it was a joke when the notorious Bicycle Bandit confronted her in the Mount Pleasant Bank SA in 2005. That was until he brandished his high-powered rifle.

TRACEY Davis thought it was a joke when the notorious Bicycle Bandit confronted her in the Mount Pleasant Bank SA in 2005. Then he pulled out a high-powered rifle.

That terrifying day continues to define much of Ms Davis’ life.

And her face-to-face confrontation, when she worked at the bank all those years ago, has Ms Davis convinced it was him who again robbed the bank on Thursday.

“I just felt so sick (on Thursday),” she said. “You’ve got no idea what it’s like until it happens.”

It is widely suspected the Bicycle Bandit returned on Thursday when a man walked into the BankSA branch on Melrose St about 11.40am, wielding a long rifle and demanding money.

He fired three shots before fleeing through the rear door of the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash and was last seen in a silver four-wheel drive. Two female staff members who were working in the bank at the time were not physically injured.

Elements of Thursday’s robbery, including the offender’s escape via the back door, as he did during the 2005 robbery, and the fact his face was covered lead Ms Davis to believe the Bicycle Bandit is back. The bandit robbed the bank for a second time on July 26, 2007.

“I didn’t see his face at all, because he had a balaclava on (but) I’d never forget his voice,” Ms Davis said.

The robbery has brought back terrible memories for Ms Davis, 52, who continues to battle side effects from her terrifying ordeal.

“It affects me now still today,” she said.

“When it first happened I was OK, then about a month later it started getting to me.”

It was an innocuous moment watching the Bathurst V8 Supercars race that first triggered return trauma for Ms Davis. The sight of a driver’s fire suit underneath his helmet brought back vivid memories.

Today, it’s simple things like visiting banks that rattle her. She no longer uses the Melrose St Bank SA branch, but a visit to any bank brings anxiety.

Ms Davis continued to work at the branch for about 18 months after the robbery, before it became too much.

“That’s what upsets me the most, because I loved my job,” she said.

Ms Davis’s advice for the two women traumatised in Thursday’s robbery, including branch manager Kylie Medlen, is to seek help, and not solely through what the bank offers.

She said a psychiatrist and psychologist had helped greatly, but connecting with a victim from a robbery at the Lobethal Post Office had also been beneficial.

Anyone with information about Thursday’s robbery or the Bicycle Bandit should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

TOWN RALLIES AROUND VICTIMS

THE small Adelaide Hills town of Mount Pleasant is rallying around the victims of Thursday’s terrifying bank heist.

Two woman, including branch manager Kylie Medlen, were inside when a man believed to be the notorious Bicycle Bandit walked inside, brandished a rifle and demanded cash.

The woman were not physically injured but were left emotionally rattled after the man fired three shots inside the branch before fleeing out a back door to a waiting silver 4WD and driving away.

A note on the bank’s front door on Friday said it would reopen on Monday.

Ozzy Elvey, the fiancee Ms Medlen, said his wife-to-be was still shaken by the ordeal.

“She’s doing it a little bit tough at the moment,” he said.

“The sooner they can catch the guy who did it, the better.”

He said Ms Medlen and her co-worker had travelled to Adelaide on Friday to speak with Bank SA management.

Richard Cotten, manager of Mt Pleasant store Horse and Buggy Antiques, said the town would support the two women who worked at the bank.

“We’ll rally around them because they are such friendly, lovely girls,” he said.

“Brandishing a gun and letting off three shots ... It’s a concern because you never know what could happen.

“If he had come in here, what do I do? I don’t keep any money in the till, I’m a one-man band.”

He said he heard the three gunshots and watched as the local police officer sped towards a silver, older-style 4WD with a canopy he now believed may have been used as a getaway car, because it was leaving the bowling green behind the bank.

“I didn’t realise it was a bank robbery at the time,” he said.

Mr Cotten said residents feared the town would suffer if the robbery led to the banks closure, after the ANZ branch closed earlier this year.

“Country towns are very vulnerable, if we lost the bank it would be like a domino effect, we could lose the hospital’s emergency department, then ambulance and police.”

Barossa Computer Services IT technician Matthew Gardner said he felt vulnerable following the holdup.

“It was a bit of a shock” he said.

“It’s just lucky they didn’t go for more businesses,” he said.

“Hopefully they can get the guy quickly and everyone can feel a bit safer around here again.”

Jillian Graetz, from the Mt Pleasant General Store, said she felt for the women who were inside the bank.

“If he’d come here, the thought has crossed my mind, it could happen anywhere,” she said.

“Life moves on, I guess you can’t dwell on what happened, but you don’t know what it’s like until it happens to you I guess.”

A Bank SA spokeswoman said it was too early to say whether the future of the bank would be reviewed.

“We are not even thinking about that at this stage,” she said.

“Our focus is on the wellbeing of the people there, who have gone through a traumatic experience.”