Four injured as citizens pursue man through Sydney hardware store in wild chase

A citizen’s pursuit allegedly involving a hacksaw, butcher’s knife and stolen hire truck has ended in an arrest in heavy Sydney traffic.

Dramatic footage has emerged of a wild chase through the streets of Western Sydney that began with a crash tackle in an attempted citizen’s arrest, and involved a hacksaw, butcher’s knife and an allegedly stolen hire truck, before ending in heavy morning traffic on the motorway.

The ordeal began at a petrol station in Austral on Monday where CCTV captured two locals - dressed in black in the vision above - closely trailing a 51-year-old man dressed in blue.

The two locals dressed in black are seen following closely behind the man in blue at a Western Sydney petrol station on Monday morning. Picture: 7News

They’re seen walking slowly until the man in blue approaches a corner and legs it away from the others.

The two locals give chase and one of them manages to tackle the man in blue to the ground in the carpark of a nearby Mitre 10. He isn’t able to restrain the man for long, however, and he is seen entering the hardware store.

Inside, the man in blue allegedly used a hacksaw to injure two employees and one of the locals who had been pursing him from the start.

According to 9News, the locals had been following the man as they suspected him of stealing from businesses in the area.
One of the locals, who was allegedly sliced across his ear, is again seen on CCTV when he exits the Mitre 10 and is handed a large knife from the butcher shop at the other end of the carpark.

One of the locals crash tackles the man to the ground in the carpark outside a Mitre 10. Picture: 7News

A man hands the injured local a large knife in the carpark outside the Mitre 10. Picture: 10 News

The knife was not used however, as the 51-year-old used the intervening time to escape out the rear exit of the Mitre 10 and allegedly steal a hire truck.

According to police, a third hardware store employee was crushed between two trucks when the vehicle was allegedly stolen.

That employee was treated by paramedics and taken to Liverpool Hospital.

Police were informed of the alleged theft and picked up the pursuit after officers sighted the truck at about 8.50am and followed it onto the M4 Motorway.

Police caught up with the man when he hit heavy traffic. Picture: 10 News

The Mitre 10 truck was also fitted with a GPS tracker, making the man’s movements easy to follow.

In the end, heavy traffic proved to be the man’s downfall and he was arrested and taken to Blacktown Police Station.

Originally published as Four injured as citizens pursue man through Sydney hardware store in wild chase